Beautiful Stranger
by DANiix0x
Summary: Dr. Edward Cullen is extremely overworked, leaving little to no personal life, let alone dating. He puts his all into the hospital. Isabella Swan, is a damaged girl, with a haunting past. When she mysteriously shows up at his hospital, in labor, covered in blood, & alone, Edward is the one to find her. Will he be able to save her? ** S.M owns all things Twilight**
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, so I found this story on an old Flashdrive... It's one of the first stories I've ever written [so go easy on me!] I went through &amp; tried to make some corrections &amp; improve it. But I wanted to share it with you. Let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer:** Stephanie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

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-**1**-

**EPOV**

I sighed, tiredly, as I slid off my white lab coat and draped it over my office chair. It had been a particularly long day today, a huge accident on the freeway caused multiple patients that needed emergency surgery, and since my father, Carlisle, and I were the best in the state, they were all lined up for us.

I clicked off the lamp on the corner of my desk and grabbed the keys to my Volvo and walked out of my office. I shut the door behind me, and turned the knob, making sure it was locked.

I pinched the bridge of my nose as I walked towards the lobby.

"Goodnight Esther" I gave a small smile to the night time receptionist at the front desk. She was an older woman, with grey hair, and coke bottle glasses, she was always so sweet to all of the staff, taking on a motherly role, which some of us desperately needed here.

"Good night dear, try to get some sleep, you've been working too hard these days." she smiled at me from behind the desk, and went back to her paper work.

I turned down the hall and began to walk towards the parking garages when I saw her. A thin girl, crawling down the hallway, who was clearly pregnant, her arms and legs covered in blood. Her dark brown hair matted her to sweaty face. I dashed over to her, trying to keep my cool.

"Help me, Please, Help me!" she grabbed onto my forearm tightly, looking up at me, her huge chocolate brown eyes wide in fear, tears streaming down her bruised, bloody face. She screamed out in pain as she squeezed my arm tighter. A contraction.

She was going into labor. There was so much blood. There shouldn't have been that much blood.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to get a stretcher, stay right here sweetheart" I helped her sit upright against the wall, trying to ignore the blood. It's not that I was grossed out by blood. In a normal birth, there shouldn't be that much blood. I ran down the hall, yelling to Esther to page for help, as I grabbed an extra stretcher. I rolled it down the hallway back to the young girl.

I leaned down, so my face was level with hers. "My name is Dr. Cullen, and I'm going to help you, can you tell me your name?" I asked her, pushing her damp hair out of her face, trying to calm her down. Her breathing was shallow, squeezing her eyes shut in pain.

"Bella." She responded after taking a deep breath, looking up at me, fear filled her eyes. She squeezed my hand tighter, and breathed in deep, crying out in pain as another contraction jolted through her body.

"It's going to be okay Bella." I reassured her, as two nurses ran towards us. I ordered them to help me lift her onto the stretcher, not that I couldn't on my own, but I didn't want to cause her any more pain.

Bella grasped my hand tightly and wouldn't let go as we dashed her into the Emergency Unit.

"Dr. Cullen" the emergency birthing doctor, Dr. Ward, said as he walked in. "Thank you so much for your assistance, I've got it from here, I'll let you know how it went." he said quickly as the nurses got his utensils ready, and they began to put in the i.v's , sedating her to reduce the pain.

Dr. Ward was a great doctor, I knew she would be completely taken care of under him.

I nodded, beginning to walk away, I was stopped by a death grip on my hand. I turned around to look, Bella's blood covered hand grasped mine, tightly.

"Please don't leave." she whimpered, tears spilling out of her eyes, "Please don't go." she repeated. I walked back over to her, grabbing the towels by the bed, and began cleaning her up, trying to distract her from the nurses, and Dr. Ward.

"Where else am I going to go?" I asked her, and smiled.

In truth, I was going to go home to my empty house, and stay up half the night catching up on my DVR, and repeat another day at the hospital. She needed me, and usually, I didn't let myself get involved with the patients, but she just looked so vulnerable, and terrified, she was pulling at my heart strings.

"Bella, is there anyone I can call?" I asked her, once I had the majority of the blood cleaned off of her arms and face.

She shook her head feverishly, and grabbed my hand tightly, screaming at the pain. I whispered soothing words to her, trying to calm her down as Dr. Ward started the process. It didn't stop the screaming or the death grips though.

"Dr. Cullen" he said, many screams, and many moments later, looking at me with wide eyes. Shaking his head in defeat. I looked down and tried to hide my surprise at what was before me. She had given birth, to a stillborn baby boy.

I wiped my hand down my face, looking back at Bella, who knew immediately something was wrong by the deafening silence in the room. She was pale, and you could tell she had absolutely no fight left in her, with good reason, she had been through an emotional roller coaster, just in the short time she was here, and lord knows what she had endured before she got here.

"My baby..." she whispered, "Dr. Cullen, why isn't it crying? What's wrong with my baby?" she reached out for my hand again, I pinched the bridge of my nose and grabbed a nearby chair, pulling it up next to her.

"Bella, I'll tell you once the nurses have you cleaned up, okay?" I said, taking a seat. She nodded, but didn't let go of my hand. We sat like that for what seemed like hours, at some point she had drifted off into sleep, but I stayed in the room, exhausted myself. The color had returned to her face, she looked almost peaceful in her sleep.

"Dr. Cullen?" the voice jolted me out of my sleep, I woke up disoriented, and stiff. "you fell asleep too." She said softly, I rubbed my eyes and stood up, stretching out my body. I had always hated those hospital chairs. I looked down at her, and offered my best smile. At some point the nurses had come in and cleaned her up, as well as left a tray of food for the both of us.

"I guess I did." I straightened my shirt, out of habit, it was dirty, and bloody, and sat back down in the chair.

"Dr. Cullen, please" she sighed, picking at the rubbery hospital food. "I need to know."

"Call me Edward, please." I said softly, she nodded, looking at me expectantly, there was no way I was getting out of this. "Your baby…" I began, running my fingers through my messy hair "..well" I cleared my throat, struggling with what I was about to tell her.

This was never my job, I performed the surgeries, that was it, if somebody didn't make it, the nurses, or my intern told the family, I always managed to avoid this part of the job. This was the one thing I couldn't handle about this job, it bothered me to hurt others.

"oh god!" Bella's cry pierced through my thoughts, her voice trembled as she wailed in pain, I shook my head defeated, she pushed her tray of food to the floor, and curled into a ball, her body shaking with sobs. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. I didn't know what else to do to help ease her pain.

She never let go of my hand, so I sat next to her the entire night, listening to her sobs, rubbing her back, trying to reassure her that everything would be okay.

During the late hours of the night, right before dawn, her body finally relaxed as she fell into a deep sleep. I didn't want to leave her, even though I knew I needed to, I had to sleep, I had to try and remain professional. I slipped out of her room quietly and walked out to the lobby, completely looking like death I'm sure, I didn't even want to see myself, I pulled out my cell phone. I dialed the familiar number of my younger sister Alice, she would know what to do, she always did.


	2. Chapter 2

-**2**-

**APOV**

I had just finished doing my final coat of make up when I heard my cell phone jingle the familiar ring tone of my older, dearest brother, Edward.

I glanced at the clock as I shuffled into my bedroom to answer before it woke up my lovely husband, Jasper.

It was five in the morning, Edward never had shifts this early.

"Edward?" I asked in a hushed voice as I made my way back to the bathroom, clicking the door shut. There was silence on the other end, just breathing. Something was wrong. "Edward, is everything okay?" I asked, getting worried now. I perched myself on the counter.

"Alice, I need your help" he finally said after another minute of silence, his voice was tired, stressed, worried. I felt a panic rise in my chest.

"What is it Edward?" I asked, my heart aching for my overworked, lonely brother.

He explained the story to me, and I sighed, my poor brother.

"of course I'll help you Edward, I just, don't know how" I replied truthfully, not exactly sure what he wanted me to do. I had a feeling this was going to be life changing.

Since my boss was extremely understanding, and I almost took no time off, she was completely okay with me taking the day off. I left a note for Jasper and jumped in my bright yellow Porsche and took off down the street towards the hospital.

Edward never told me exactly what he wanted me to do. But he's my brother, and I will help him in any way that he needs it.

I ran through the doors, and towards my brother's office. I took a deep breath before walking in, and gasped at the sight in front of me.

Edward was pacing back and forth, mumbling to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose. His beautiful copper hair was in disarray on his head, and his usual piercing green eyes, were hooded over with worry. His jaw was clenched together, causing his already prominent jawbone to stick out even more. His clothes were wrinkled, and unkempt, the sleeves of his shirt were covered in dried blood.

Now, under normal circumstances, I would give him the utmost hell about the condition of his clothes, but I decided to let him slide this time, and this time only. Man did he owe me.

I brought my hands up to my mouth "Edward?" He stopped pacing and snapped his head to look at me, his shoulders immediately relaxed and relief washed over his face, I raced across the room and threw myself at him, hugging him tightly.

"Alice." he said into my hair, hugging me back "thank god you're here."

After a few moments of hugging, we finally broke apart from each other and I perched myself on the edge of his desk. I watched as he unbuttoned his shirt and threw it in the trash. Standing with his black pants and white wife beater, he looked at me, and he looked defeated, and tired.

"I'll go sit with her, Edward, please, get some sleep, please" I begged my brother. He nodded, putting his hand on the small of my back and leading me out of his office and down the hall. We entered a small room, with a tiny brunette girl curled up in a ball on the small single hospital bed.

"Bella." he said telling me her name, I nodded "I'm going to my office to see if I can find any information on her, I'll be back shortly" he told me and disappeared from the room.

My brother would never learn to rest. I worried for him. I sighed looking around the miserable hospital room. It needed color, so that's what I would do, when she woke up there would be color, and not just bland white walls.

So I set to work, running out to my car to get some supplies. I opened the blinds, so that the sun shone in, and put some flowers that I found in the waiting room randomly around the room. With some posters of beautiful beaches, and meadows, and flowers.

I smiled to myself at the final result, and took a seat in the chair next to her bed, that my brother had previously occupied.

I was looking through my Glamour Magazine when she began to move, groaning in pain.

"Bella? Bella?" I dropped the magazine and stood up, putting my hand on her cheek. She opened her eyes immediately, confusion and pain flashed through them.

"Who are you?" she asked curiously looking around the room.

I smiled at her, I felt bad for her, I could understand why Edward didn't want to leave her. "Hi Bella, I'm Alice Cullen-Hale, Edward's sister." I smiled at her. "I hope you like your room, I tried to give it some color, it was miserable before"

She nodded, smiling weakly at me "is Edward... coming back?"

"He just went home for some sleep." I explained to her, she nodded "Bella, do you have any family, or friends, that we can call for you?" I asked, she looked at me and shook her head, frowning sadly.

"Okay, we'll figure something out for you, alright?" I told her, resting my hand on hers, she nodded as a nurse came in to check on her "I'm going to go call my husband, alright?" she nodded and I walked out of the room, towards Edward's office.

I walked in to see him in front of his computer, his hair even messier than when I had first seen him, hours before, still wearing his wife beater, looking even more exhausted and beat than I had ever seen him.

"Edward! What happened to getting sleep?!" I hissed at him, tapping my black Minnolo high heel against the ugly linoleum floor. He looked up at me and frowned.

"Alice I've been researching for hours, and nobody reported anyone missing, there's been nothing in the paper about anyone named Bella at all." he ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated, and tired.

"I'm guessing from her swollen face and the fact that she crawled into the hospital covered in blood, whoever could report her missing wouldn't, unless they wanted to explain the abuse." I sighed "listen, the nurses are tending to her now, I'm going to run to the mall and get her some clothes to wear, and from there, maybe we can talk to dad, and figure something out, I mean, we can't just…leave her." I said disgustingly. He nodded, thanking me as I disappeared out the door, my mind whirling in 3,000 different directions.


	3. Chapter 3

**-3-**

**BPOV**

I had lost my baby, my tiny, precious baby. I was finally alone in this, newly decorated hospital room to try and get a drip on my emotions.

I hated it.

I hated the silence that was screaming the truth at me. The truth that it was my fault I lost my baby.

The hot tears streamed down my cheeks. I punched the hospital bed, and decided I had to get out of here. This place reminded me of death, and sadness, and loss, and I couldn't handle it anymore.

I had no idea where I would go once I did break free, but at this point in time, I didn't care.

I ripped the I.V's from my arms, whimpering at the sharp pain, and stood up, I was wobbly, and my entire body was weak. I wrapped the hospital gown around me, and made my way as quickly as I could to the doorway, bumping into what felt like a brick wall. I nearly fell backwards, but familiar hands steadied me in my place.

I looked up to see no one other than the Dr. Edward Cullen, who was not exactly happy to see me out of my hospital bed.

"Bella." he warned, his beautiful velvet voice was stern. He put his arm around my waist, and held onto my hand with his free hand, and guided me back to the bed. "My sister, Alice, you met her earlier, is getting you some more comfortable clothes." he informed me. I felt my face redden; the last thing I wanted to be was a burden on anyone.

"Thank you." I whispered, watching him intently, he looked as exhausted as I felt, his face was pale, he had dark black circles under his eyes, his copper hair was a disaster.

"Now, we need you to fill out a few forms, with all of your information for insurance and medical records." he explained, handing me a clipboard with the forms.

I felt a panic rise in my throat.

"I can't, I can't." I dropped the clipboard onto my lap, shaking my head back and forth quickly, and began to breathe heavily. If I filled out the information, James would be able to find me.

He couldn't find me; I had just broken free of him, after all these years. It had taken one drunken err in judgment on his part, or possibly the fact that he had beat the shit out of me and was at least concerned for the baby.

Edward sat next to me and began rubbing circles on my back, sending calming waves through my entire body.

"Breathe Bella, deep breaths." he sighed, taking the clipboard, holding it in front of my face "see these forms?" he asked, I nodded, and with that he threw it over his shoulder, it slammed on the floor with a loud clatter. I looked at him with wide eyes, my mouth open in shock.

"I'll take care of it." he informed me.

"God, I'm so sorry" I slumped against him, hating what my life had become, what I let my life become. I was grateful to Edward, for I wasn't sure what I had done to come across such a kind man, I would never be able to explain to him how thankful I was.

"Bella, stop apologizing, it's okay, completely." he assured me "the hospital wants to keep you here for a few more days, to make sure your body heals, both from the delivery and from the other, non-related injuries," he explained, "who can we call to release you to when it's time for that?" he asked again, and I felt the bile rise in my throat at the thought of him.

"Dr. Cullen- Edward. There's no one." I told him quietly, fidgeting with my hands in my lap. He eyed me curiously, as if he was trying to figure me out, I bit my lip self-consciously.

"We will figure it out, okay?" he reassured me, as he stood up. "For now, get some rest, and do not try to escape again." He situated me in the bed, hooking the I.V's back up carefully. "I'm going to go home and get some rest, I will be back to check on you soon." He gave my hand a squeeze, &amp; with that he left the room.

**EPOV**

"Edward, you know that's against hospital policy." My supervisor, Jane, said through the receiver.

"I know, but technically she isn't even my patient, she's Dr. Wards, and it won't be a permanent solution, just until my sister and brother in law can track down some relatives, or some type of program to help her out." I explained, pinching the bridge of my nose, happy this was over the phone and she couldn't see me.

"I'm not so sure..." she trailed off, she was considering it.

"It's clear she was abused, would you honestly feel okay with setting her back out, with nowhere to go except back into the arms of her abuser? Isn't it hospital policy to protect all of our patients to the best of our ability?" I countered, a little nervous; I never spoke to Jane this way.

I heard her sigh, and she was silent for a moment. "Alright Edward, I'm going to trust you on this one, because she wasn't your patient, and because your family is going to be looking into the best placement for her, I will allow it. But this needs to be kept quiet, we don't need word spreading around the hospital, are we clear?" she was firm.

"Yes ma'am, crystal." I replied.

We talked for a few more minutes about the logistics, and hung up.

I quickly dialed Alice's number to ask her for hers and Jasper's help, and also to recruit her to help set up the spare room, which I had never finished doing, it had half unpacked boxes, an unmade bed, and no life to it at all, she would be happy to decorate it for Bella.

I hoped we were doing the right thing for her, and that she would accept the help.

I didn't know what it was about this mystery girl that made me want to help her so much.

**BPOV**

It had been a long few days in the hospital; I was hopped up on painkillers, and slept most of my days away. Edward and his sister would visit me a few times a day, making sure I was okay. Alice would always bring something to help brighten up the room. They were nice gestures, and I tried to be thankful, but it was hard with everything else going on.

The rest of the hospital staff was nice as well; Dr. Ward had done a wonderful job of taking care of me, and handling the situation sensitively. The hospital therapist, Lauren, was alright, I didn't really feel comfortable discussing much with her though, which made the few times she had attempted to, awkward.

"Well today's the day." Edward said, walking into my room on my last day in the hospital. He was dressed comfortable, basketball shorts and a sweatshirt, I felt bad he had come in on his day off, again.

I felt a panic rise in my throat. I couldn't go back to James, I had finally, after years, escaped him. But I had nothing to my name, he had kicked me out of the car so fast, I didn't even grab my purse.

"Bella," he sighed, my name rolling off his tongue melodically. "I don't normally do this, and I know it's a little… unethical, but…" he paused, lifting my chin up with his hand so I was looking directly at him, "I have a spare room at my house, I would like it if you came to stay with me until I helped you figure things out, if you are comfortable with that." my jaw dropped, and I gaped at him for a few moments before I could even formulate a response.

"is that even allowed? Won't you get in trouble by the hospital?"

"I spoke with my supervisor and cleared it already, technically you are Dr. Wards patient, and Jasper and Alice are going to help set up living arrangements for you, when you are ready." He explained.

The only thing I could think to do was to throw my arms around his neck and hug him tightly. I could feel the hot tears begin streaming down my cheeks.

"Thank you, for everything." I managed to choke out. He chuckled and rubbed my back, sending waves of electricity jolting through my veins.

"Bellaaaa!" a tinkering voice called melodically, I jumped back from Edward, startled, and we both looked towards the door to see his tiny sister standing at the foot of the bed with millions of bags spilling from her arms.

Okay maybe not millions, more like five or six.

"I'm so happy to see your awake!" she smiled at me, pushing Edward out of the way.

Alice was the cutest thing I had ever seen. She was tiny, probably just making five feet if she was lucky. She had short, dark brown hair that was gelled to angle out artistically in every which way. She had blueish-green eyes that were absolutely stunning. She was like a little diva fairy. That's what she reminded me off. Her tinkering voice fit her perfectly.

"Alice what are you-" Edward began looking sheepish, but she cut him off.

"Well, I just started shopping, and couldn't stop, I found some really cute things for Bella!" she grinned widely. "I wasn't sure exactly what your style is, so I got a mixture of stuff, and some pajamas, and a bathing suit, just in case." her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Alice," I said slowly, shaking my head "you shouldn't have, I... I don't have any money to pay you back." I said looking at my feet. James had everything.

"Silly Bella, there's no need for that, I haven't been shopping in at least a week, but Jasper can't get upset because now I have an excuse." she grinned wildly at me and began to empty the contents of the bags.

I looked up at Edward who was leaning against the doorframe, watching us with an amused look on his face.

"Alice, you can discuss shopping with Bella later, I would like to get us home relatively soon, so we can both get a decent night's sleep." Edward chuckled from the doorway.

"Right!" Alice nodded "so I was thinking this would be perfect to go home in." she said holding up an outfit, barely paying attention to her brother; he rolled his eyes and disappeared from the doorway.

I let Alice decide what I should wear and I took the outfit from her and walked into the bathroom. I set the clothes on the top of the toilet and leaned on the sink looking in the mirror.

I almost didn't even recognize the person staring back at me.

I looked absolutely horrendous. My brown hair was greasy, and matted to my head. My skin was ghostly pale, and I had black circles under my eyes, my once sparkling brown eyes had become so dull, lifeless. The left side of my face was swollen; there was a cut on my bottom lip that looked disgusting. I turned away from the mirror with a shudder quickly and slid the hospital gown off.

My eyes bulged at the underwear Alice had bought for me; it was just three strings and a triangle of fabric. There was almost no material to them at all; I could feel myself instantly redden as I slid them on. The bra wasn't much better; it matched the pink color of the panties, and was lacy, and delicate. Strangely, it was the right size. I slid on the pair of black yoga pants; they were tight fitting, but comfortable. I pulled the pale pink simple t-shirt over my head and looked back in the mirror.

I turned the faucet on and splashed cold water on my face, pulling my hair back into a pony tail, wetting it with my hands. I looked at myself again, and I looked a little better, as good as I was going to be for the time being.

When I walked out of the bathroom Alice was gone but Edward was waiting patiently, holding the many bags of clothing in his arms, as well as a bag of the medicine Dr. Ward had prescribed me. He smiled widely when he saw me, making my heart flutter a little.

That was weird. I hadn't ever felt any type of flutter before. I had also never come across anyone as beautiful as Edward before either though.

"Alice checked you out, are you ready to go?" he asked me, I nodded and followed him down the hall and out to his car, a shiny silver Volvo. It was a nice car, better than the Red Chevy truck my father had given me. I winced at the memories of my old life as I climbed in the car.

"Bella?" Edward asked as he took off from the parking garage. I looked over at him curiously "what is your last name?"

"Swan." I said softly, looking at my hands in my lap.

"Can you tell me what happened to you?" he asked me for the first time since I had entered his lfie, I felt the panic rising in my chest again, I grabbed the sides of the seat tightly, closing my eyes, trying not to remember.

"Bella, it's okay, you can tell me another time, when you are feeling better sweetheart." he soothed taking my hand in his, squeezing it lightly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't press, it's really none of my business." he apologized.

"No" I said strongly "don't apologize, you saved my life Edward." I said softer "I will tell you," I paused "I just need time, and to sleep first." I looked over at him, and he nodded, understanding.

We came to a stop, and I realized we were at his house. It was a huge, two family townhouse.

"We're here," he smiled as he opened the door for me, helping me out. "I live on the right side," he explained "my brother Emmett, and his fiancé, Rosalie, live on the left side." he continued "I own the whole townhouse, and rent it out to them, Alice and her husband, Jasper, live on the next street over." I smiled at him, and the closeness of his family, and felt a pang of jealousy run through my body. He grabbed the bags and led me to the front steps. He unlocked the door and led me inside.

It was a beautiful house. We walked through a small foyer, where we stopped to take off our shoes, and Edward took off his sweatshirt, and hung it on the coat hanger in the corner. We continued down a long hall , which had pictures of different friends and family I assumed, recognizing Alice in a few, and ended in the kitchen, which had a black marble floor, with matching counter tops, and white cabinets, with a stainless steel refrigerator, stove, and microwave. There was a breakfast bar, with three high chairs pushed in neatly.

He led me to the right of the kitchen, through a doorway, and a short hallway, and brought me into a huge living room, which had plush black leather couches, and a piano in the corner, along with a huge bookcase, filled top to bottom with books, and a huge flat screen TV.

Between the living room and kitchen was a decent sized bathroom. Across from the bathroom was the laundry room, with a washer, dryer and a drying rack.

We walked through the living room to the stairs, which also had pictures of his family and friends along the walls.

The upstairs was just as beautiful as the downstairs; the first room was the guest room, which is where he set the bags down, where I would be staying. It had a huge four poster bed, a desk with a computer, and stereo set up, a small TV mounted on the wall in front of the bed, a dresser, a huge walk in closet, and a little porch, that was big enough for one chair and a tiny end table next to it.

We left the room and next to it was the bathroom, which was basically identical to the one on the first floor. And across from that was the master bedroom, Edward's room. It was huge, he also had a huge four poster bed, a desk with a lap top, another huge book case, a dresser, a walk in closet, and a sitting area, with another huge plush leather couch and a table set up with a stereo and many cd's.

We walked to a room farther down the hall on the same side as Edward's room was an office, with a huge oak desk in the center of the room, with a worn leather chair, there was paperwork covering the desk, with a lap top. Behind the desk was a huge window, with a window seat, and on the surrounding walls were all bookcases, from floor to ceiling, and for the majority, they were filled with books. I was in heaven; it almost hurt me to leave the room.

"Your home is beautiful Edward." I said as we walked back out to the hallway.

"Thank you Bella." He smiled at me; "why don't you get cleaned up, and I'll order us some real food." he winked. I nodded, real food sounded amazing.


	4. Chapter 4

-4-

**EPOV**

It was as if Bella Swan had fallen out of the sky into my hospital. I had looked everywhere for any kind of mention of a missing woman. But nothing came up, I had even called the local police station and no one had heard anything, but Alice had a point, since she was clearly abused, whoever would be the one to report her missing most likely wouldn't.

It was frustrating. And I was over tired. I had just put in the order for Chinese food, and was laying on my living room couch, leaning my head back, resting my eyes.

I groaned as my cell phone began vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out and lifted my head to look at the screen. Carlisle. I flipped it open quickly.

"Hello Dad," I said calmly, I was pretty sure this phone call wasn't going to be a good one, I hadn't really cleared the whole Bella coming home with me thing with him.

"Edward," he said coolly. Nope, not going to be good. "is it true? What I heard from Jane? You brought a patient home with you?" he was frustrated.

I had barely graduated Med School when he got me into this hospital, so anything that I did reflected on him, and he didn't like to look bad in front of his colleagues. There were strict rules about patient/doctor relationships.

But there was also the rule that you do everything in your power to protect your patients, and make sure they are safe.

"Dad." I groaned "She had absolutely no where to go, she just lost her baby, she was so lost, she has nobody." I explained what I knew of Bella's situation quickly. Carlisle was passionate, he would surely understand. I also made sure to give him the exact conversation I had with Jane.

"How is the girl holding up? Is she all right?" he asked, clearly concerned, just like I had figured.

"I'm not sure, but I'm going to help her find somewhere to go, Jasper and Alice have already been helping, I want to make sure she gets the help she needs, and then she'll be on her way, I know this makes you look bad, but I couldn't just, leave her." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Why not?" he asked, his curiosity was outweighing his frustration, I wasn't sure if that was better or worse for me.

So I explained her story, for the second time again to my father, and I also told him about the connection I felt toward her, the need to protect her. There was a silence on the phone as I let it sink in. I nervously ran my fingers through my hair, waiting.

"Edward," he paused for a second "I'm proud of you, son." my jaw dropped, and for a second I didn't know what to say.

"Thanks Dad" I replied simply, sometimes less was more.

The doorbell rang, so I quickly said goodbye and jogged to the door, I grabbed the bag of food from the delivery guy, and handed him money.

I pulled out paper plates, and some water bottles and began to pull the small individual white boxes out, one at a time, placing them on the breakfast bar.

"That smells so much better than the hospital food." Bella's beautiful, raspy voice said from behind me. I hadn't even heard her come down the stairs.

I turned to see her in a pair of plaid boxer shorts, and plain black tank top. She looked almost a hundred percent better. Like she just hadn't gone through one of the most devastating things in the world. The only thing that gave her away was her swollen face, and the bruises and scars that peppered her arms and legs, I tried not to let my eyes linger on them long, I didn't want her to feel uncomfortable at all.

The scars made me wonder even more about her, where had she come from? What type of life did she escape from? How long was the abuse going on? Who was the one hurting her? I knew I had to be patient, and hope in time she would feel comfortable enough to open up to me, but the anger that ripped through my body was hard to tame. I wanted to find whoever was responsible for hurting her and rip him limb from limb.

She was an extremely beautiful girl. Long brown hair. Big doe brown eyes that gave away her emotions in a second. She had curves for days. She was fairly average height. But there was something about her, maybe the mystery, maybe the damsel in distress, but whatever it was made her absolutely irresistible.

Wow, irresistible, really Cullen? I cringed at myself, I almost felt sick to my stomach for those feelings, she had just gone through the most traumatic experience, and here I was being a pig. I immediately shook the thoughts from my head. I couldn't be attracted to this Beautiful Stranger that I had let stay in my home. Something was wrong with me. Sleep. I needed sleep. That was definitely my problem.

"Anything smells better than the hospital food." I agreed, sending a smile her way. She slowly made her way over and took a seat. "I got a little bit of everything, not sure what you liked," I explained to her, taking the seat next to her.

I watched her as she filled her plate with a little of everything, I followed suit, my stomach had been growling for what felt like days, it was time to cure the beast inside.

"Thank you again, Edward, for everything." she spoke a few moments later "you don't know how much I appreciate this." she said looking up at me, and sending me a small smile, it didn't reach her eyes, but she was trying.

"Of course" I replied, taking a sip from my water bottle. "So Bella Swan," I watched as her blush rose from her chest, to her neck, resting in her cheeks, causing her to look even more adorable than normal, "tell me about yourself, about your life, you don't have to tell me how you ended up here, but tell me about you."

I watched her play with her food, pushing it around her plate, debating with herself. I almost regretted asking her, but I wanted to know about this mysterious woman sitting across from me.

"Well, I was born in a small town, not too far from here, where my father, Charlie, was the chief of police. I lived there for about five years, and then he and my mother, Renee, got a divorce, and she packed up our things, and took the two of us to Pheonix, I loved it there, always warm, and sunny, and there were so many people, and so many things to do," she paused, her eyes were glazed over as she remembered her childhood. "But, then, when I was 14, she was on her way to pick me up from school, and there was a huge accident, a kid driving a truck ran a red light, he wasn't paying attention, and he slammed directly into Renee, and she didn't make it." I frowned, I could see the sadness in her face.

"I'm so sorry." I said softly, putting my fork down and placing my hand over hers, she smiled warmly at me, and continued her story.

"So then, I moved back with Charlie. It was really hard at first, Renee was my best friend, she was erratic, and impulsive, and crazy, she used to keep me out of school randomly so we could have a girls day, all day." she smiled at the memories "It's still hard some days, but, it gets easier in time, and I know she's looking over me" I squeezed her hand, and listened to her continue.

"Charlie was great, he really did try, he and I didn't really have much to talk about, but we got along, and he really did a good job raising a teenage girl." she smiled "He bought me my first car, taught me how to fish, taught me how to shoot a gun, and introduced me to my first love." she giggled a little, shaking her head, "He died about two years ago, there was a bank robbery, and he was called to the scene, one of the robbers had a gun and was shooting at the officers, two of them died, and another was seriously injured." her voice was pained. I felt horrible for this girl.

"Bella, I'm so sorry." I replied, what an idiot, that's the best you can come up with? I inwardly groaned at myself.

"Thank you, Edward." she smiled "I was pretty tough, I handled myself a lot better than anyone thought, like I said about Renee, I know he's watching over me, too." she smiled, picking up her fork and beginning to eat again.

"How old are you?" I asked, curious.

"Twenty five." she looked at me "how old are you Dr. Cullen?"

"Twenty eight." I replied. She was in a decent mood for the circumstances, I could only hope things would stay that way. But I knew better.

"Tell me about yourself." she said, taking a sip of her water.

"Well, I was born in Chicago, I have an older brother, Emmett, who I'm sure you'll meet soon enough, and Alice, who is the baby of the family. We lived in Chicago for about ten years, our mother Elizabeth, was wonderful, but she was diagnosed with cancer, and needed special care, which they offered here, so then our father, Carlisle, who also works in the hospital, was transferred here. So we all moved, my mother, Emmett, Alice and I, and we went to high school here, and I actually graduated two years early, so that I could go directly to MedSchool and work in the hospital" I grinned at her, "our mother, Elizabeth, was a beautiful woman, who took care of us until she physically could not anymore, she passed about ten years ago." my breathing hitched, and it was now Bella's turn to put her hand over mine. She was watching me intently, with understanding pain in her eyes.

"It was devastating, to all of us, we all knew it was coming, but you can never prepare yourself enough for something like that." I sighed "We all helped each other through it, as a family, we still have some really hard days, all of us, Carlisle was distraught, for a while, but he's doing a lot better now, he actually started dating again about five years ago, and he's been serious with this woman, Esme, who we all think is wonderful, we're truly happy for him, and she makes him happy, so.."

"Your family sounds wonderful," Bella said sincerely "And I'm sorry about your mother, maybe her and my parents are watching down on us together." she smiled at me, I couldn't help but smile back.

We ate the rest of our meal in silence, Bella seemed to be out of it, I wasn't sure if it was the pain meds, or she was lost in thought. She helped me clean up the kitchen and we both trudged our way upstairs, it had been and excruciating long few days for the both of us.

I was so glad that I had the next two days off.


	5. Chapter 5

I hope you all are enjoying this story! The e-mails I'm getting with notifications of Favs/Follows/Reviews is so wonderful! Thank you so much! The support &amp; encouragement makes me happier than you know!

I completed this story years ago, I've been going through and making edits I'm going to try and post frequently, but it all depends on how quickly I can work these edits out. (I am also in school, working full time, and working on two others stories, so bare with me!)

If you have time, check out my other two stories, co-written with SDavis2k9.

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

* * *

-5-

**BPOV**

That night sleep didn't come easy, it never did. I laid awake for hours, crying over my baby. I couldn't help but think after all those years, James was right, that I couldn't do anything right.

God, I couldn't even deliver a baby. Our baby.

Our baby.

The thought made me cry even harder, not only because of the fact that I would never know my baby, that I would never rock her to sleep at night, that I would never check under the bed for boogie monsters, that I would never go to soccer games and cheer for every goal he scored. I cried for the fact I didn't even know if it was a girl or a boy.

I also cried because it would have been another thing James had of me.

I cried, and cried all night.

When I finally did fall to sleep, after pure exhaustion of crying, and feeling sorry for myself. I had dreams of James finding me, and finding out what I had done to our child, and beating me until the brink of death, and then just leaving me to suffer.

I shot up out of bed, panting, and sweating, my hair was stuck to the sides of my face and forehead. I sighed, shaking the nightmare from my brain, not wanting to ever think of it, again. I glanced over at the clock, the digital red letters informed me that it was only 7:48 in the morning.

I knew I wasn't getting anymore sleep, so I decided to get up and make Edward breakfast. It was the least I could do. But first, I needed a shower.

Once I was out of the shower, and decided on a pair of skinny jeans, and a midnight blue camisol. I combed out my hair, and decided to let it air dry. I took the assortment of pills Dr. Ward had prescribed me and took a quick look in the mirror. Seeing my body back to normal, not pregnant was like an arrow to my heart. I quickly left the room before I had time to get emotional.

I padded down the stairs quietly, trying not to wake Edward.

I still could not get over the beauty of this house. It was simple, yet elegant, big, yet cozy. I would love to have something like this someday. But, chances of that happening were slim to none.

I wondered what to make as I entered the kitchen. As I opened the fridge I saw that there was eggs, and bacon, I pulled those out, along with the cheese, onions, and green peppers. Hopefully Edward liked cheesy eggs, bacon and toast.

I set everything on the counter and began to search for his frying pan.

Cooking was one of my few talents. I felt at home in the kitchen. I grew up cooking with my mom, she taught me everything I knew. Then when I moved in with Charlie, he couldn't cook his way out of a paper bag, so I was able to practice more while living with him. Then with James, I winced at the thought of him, I had to cook every night.

So cooking was my thing.

Other than cooking, and cleaning, there was really nothing I was good at. I was an absolute klutz. I tripped barefoot, on flat surfaces, all the time. Growing up I made frequent trips to the hospital, both in Pheonix and Forks I was on first name basis with the hospital staff. It was horrible while I was pregnant, I winced again, putting the bacon in the pan, and decided not to think about anything past related anymore.

As I cracked the eggs into the second pan my thoughts wandered to the handsome hero sleeping above me.

He was about six feet tall, muscular build. His eyes, those beautiful eyes, were a sparkling, emerald green, which was my new favorite color. His skin was smooth, and pale, his cheekbones were so sculpted, and strong, they could probably cut glass. His crooked smile, was enough to make anyone's knees go weak. That hair, that out of control, messy, bronze colored hair, just made him even more beautiful.

"Damn Eddie boy, that smells GRREATT!" A booming voice yelled down the hallway pulling me from my daydreams. I jumped nearly falling over, I grabbed the counter to steady myself as the voice rounded the corner. I was trying to hold myself together, and not have a panic attack before the owner of the voice saw me.

I'm pretty sure if my jaw could have hit the floor, it would have. The voice belonged the biggest guy I had ever seen. He towered over me, standing at at least 6'5. I could clearly see his muscles preparing to rip through his shirt. He had curly black hair, with random streaks of Edward's copper color, gelled to his head. His eyes widened when he saw me. He had the same bluish green eyes as Alice, and a gorgeous grin, a little crooked, like Edwards, and the most adorable dimples.

"Oh, shit! Sorry, you're not my little bro," he grinned at me, "catching flies?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, lightly pushing my chin back up, chuckling.

"I'm Bella." I said, turning back to the stove "breakfast?" I asked him, turning to look at him.

"Oh hell yeah!" he said enthusiastically, grabbing a plate from the counter and holding it out to me. I smiled at him as I placed the eggs, a few strips of bacon and toast on it. "I NEVER turn down a free meal!" he grinned as he took a seat.

"So you're Emmett?" I asked as I began cracking more eggs.

"That's my name!" he said enthusiastically, shoveling toast into his mouth. I could definitely tell that he and Alice were related, they looked alike, and acted almost identical. I smiled at his enthusiasm.

"Emmett, what in God's name are you doing here so early?" Edwards's velvet voice filled the room. I felt myself relax. I turned to look at him, and hoped my jaw stayed off the floor this time.

He was just in a pair of flannel pajama pants. That's it. His chest and stomach were absolutely godlike. I frowned, ashamed at myself for even having those thoughts. I was damaged goods, I had so much shit I had to work out before I began being attracted to anyone.

"Breakfast?" I asked him, putting the now finished eggs, some bacon and toast onto an empty plate, and extended it out to him.

"Thanks Bella, you really didn't have to." he took the plate and joined his brother, who was curiously watching our interaction.

"It's the least I could do" I said softly, making scrambled eggs for myself.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, I nodded as I finished up my breakfast, turning the oven off, and joining the two.

"Soo…" Emmett said casually once he finished his breakfast. He looked back and forth between me and Edward, and then from Edward to me, and again.

"What do you need to know?" Edward asked him, pinching the bridge of his nose, clearly annoyed with his brother. I looked down at my plate, pushing the food around quietly.

"Nothing, I was just coming to say hey." he frowned, pretending to be upset, putting a hand over his heart "can't I come say hi to my favorite little brother?" he asked, Edward nodded and grabbed the empty plates, bringing them to the dishwasher.

"Emmett, I'm your ONLY brother." Edward chuckled, Emmett frowned looking at me sadly, I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Nice meeting you, Emmett." I said waving at him as he stood up to leave.

He took me off guard as he wrapped his massive arms around me and lifted me from my seat. His laughter boomed through the house, causing me to smile, despite the excruciating pain I was in, and Edward was chuckling from his spot near the counter, his eyes sparkling at the sight.

"can't.. Breathe..." I managed to choke out, he was like the jolly green giant, and he didn't realize the physical pain his death lock of a hug was putting me in.

"Emmett! Put her down! She can't breathe! And she's not supposed to be doing anything strenuous for a while!" Edward demanded.

"Sorry!" Emmett set me down, looking worried.

"It's okay, really!" I patted his shoulder, he instantly perked up.

"Thanks for breakfast, I'm going to make sure I'm here every morning!" He boomed, sending us both another huge grin and disappearing down the hall and out the door.


	6. Chapter 6

-6-

**EPOV**

I watched as she straightened herself out after Emmett the destroyer set her down and took off.

She was the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on. And she didn't even have a clue. When she smiled, which was few and far between, she was breath taking.

_Breath taking?_ _Really?_ I really needed to stop.

"I'm sorry about him." I apologized as she helped me load the rest of dishes into the dish washer.

"He's funny, why are you apologizing?" she raised her eyebrows at me, it was hard to believe she was the same girl from the hospital last night. I knew she was putting on a strong face but she made it seem effortless.

"He can be a little... Overbearing sometimes." I grinned at her, leaning against the counter. I took her hands into mine, trying to ignore the electric shock that ran through my entire body, and how sexy she looked in dark blue.

"How are you doing?" I asked, now that Emmett wasn't here, she could be honest with me. She looked down at the floor, biting her lip, and then looked back up at me, she had tears brimming from her eyes, and I almost kicked myself.

_Good going, jackass._

"I'm okay, I guess" she shrugged, "Edward…" she began "I think there are some things I should tell you."

"Bella, if you aren't ready, it's okay, you don't have to." I told her, squeezing her hands. She nodded.

"I want to be ready." She admitted, biting her bottom lip. I could see in her eyes that she was fighting with herself, I squeezed her hands in reassurance.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something." I told her, she looked up at me with wide eyes, waiting. "Alice's husband, Jasper, is a therapist, he has his own practice, and he and his partner, Dr. Embry are both really great at their jobs, I have referred many patients to both, I think it would be a good idea for you to talk with one of them, probably Dr. Embry so there won't be any type of dual relationship if you and Jasper become friends."

"But I, uh.. how will I pay?" she asked, I tried to hide a chuckle, that's what she was worried about?

"I was thinking, I could get you a job at the hospital's gift shop on the main floor, Alice was just telling me that the woman who runs it is shorthanded and could use the help. I know it's not much, but it's something for now." I suggested. The gift shop had very little to do with the hospital, and I worked on the third floor, so there would be no conflict of interest.

"Edward, I don't know how to thank you." She hugged me.

"no need to thank me, and it will take some time for the hiring process anyways, and Jasper's first session is free, so how about I schedule an appointment with him for you next week, and then we'll see if you feel up to working." I lead her to the living room and we sat on the couch.

"I want to work, I know I need to finish my medicine, and rest for a few days, but I can't sit around and do nothing, I need to save money to build my life back up, I need to figure out how to find a place to live, even though he ruined-uh, my credit is shot." She listed off a to-do list, stumbling over her words at the end.

"Bella." I almost scolded her, "you just went through a very rough time, you are welcome here as long as you'd like, there is no rush, and if it makes you feel better after you start working we can work out some sort of payment plan. Then once you are comfortable enough my family and I will help you get situated on your own." I insisted.

"are you sure? I already feel like such a burden.." she trailed off, biting her lip.

"Don't be silly, I like having you around." And it was true, in the short time I had known her I had grown an attachment to her, I wanted to protect her, and make sure she was safe. I wanted to get to know her, the real her.

We sat together in comfortable silence for a while, I was on one end of the couch, with my feet on the coffee table, and she was sitting next to me, her legs curled under her butt. It was nice.

"I want to tell you." She broke the silence, she must have been looking for the courage to tell me about what had happened in her life, "It's kind of.. My past is kind of... " her sentences were broken, I noticed the panic in her eyes, and her breathing started to shorten.

I placed one hand on her chest, and the other on her back, to help her even out her breathing.

"Breath Bella," I instructed "deep breaths, slow down, in and out" I told her, dropping my hands once she had recovered "take your time, if you need to take any breaks, let me know, I'm not going to judge you for any of it, we don't even need to talk about anything you don't want to. Please don't feel pressured." I lifted her chin so that she was looking me in the eyes. She did her sexy lip bite thing. I groaned at myself, and waited for her to explain her past.

"I'm not exactly sure where I should begin." she said, looking down at her hands.

"Well, I already know that you were born around here, and you moved to Arizona, but then everything happened with your mom, so you moved back to your dads." I said, trying to help her out. She looked up at me and gave me a small smile, looking surprised that I had remembered.

"Moving back to my dad's was a rough transition for me. Arizona was always warm, sunny, and I could be outside all the time, enjoying the weather. In Washington, it's rainy all the time, and cold, and wet and miserable." She inhaled deeply and continued with her story. "Going back to school was difficult, I never exactly fit in, I had a small group of friends, but I don't like shopping, I never went to the football games, I didn't go to parties and get smashed, I just did my school work, hung out with friends, read, and took care of Charlie. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy high school, it just wasn't always easy for me. I was always that girl with the dead mom, it could get tough at times." she shrugged, not really showing too much interest in the topic of school.

"Sometime during my senior year, my dad introduced me to James," she visibly shuddered, which told me he was the source of abuse, "I was 17, and he was 19, interning at the police station, shadowing my dad. He went to the local college. He was your typical pretty boy, blonde hair, blue eyes, and boy could he sweet talk." she smiled a little, but it disappeared as quickly as it came, and she continued.

"At first, he would just come home with Charlie for dinner, but eventually James would start to show up even without my dad. We started getting close, and he even asked Charlie's permission to take me out. Since he was basically Charlie's pet, he quickly agreed, pushing me towards the relationship." she sighed, shaking her head. I put my hand on her shoulder, squeezing it softly, letting her know I was here for her.

"Things were great at first, he made me laugh, and I could tell him anything, and everything, we were together all the time. The fact that he was an older guy, interested in me, definitely added to everything. He was my first love, I thought he was the greatest thing in the world." she smiled at me, taking a deep breath and fidgeting with her hands. I could tell this is where the hard part was coming.

"When Charlie died, all I had was James, I have no siblings, both of my parents were only children and my grandparents had been gone a long time. He had also been at the bank that day, he was the only one who survived, he had been shot in the leg, so I took care of him until he recovered. That day haunted him every day, it haunted both of us." she was trying to hide the fact that she was upset. "He blamed himself for not being able to save Charlie." she sighed, pausing for a few minutes, looking like she was trying to figure out what to say next.

"I had graduated high school by then, and barely kept in touch with any of my friends. Except for Jake, but he didn't like James, so we rarely talked. So like I said, James was all I had, I was okay with that though, because I thought things would be all rainbows and butterflies, and that we would end up getting married. We had always talked about it." I could see the tears brimming in her eyes, and held my breath, worried for what was coming.

"Once he recovered, and started working again, he moved into the house with me, I was so withdrawn, and alone by that point, I missed Charlie, I missed Renee, I missed my friends." she sighed, pausing for a minute before going on. "Well, James didn't understand, he didn't like that I wasn't happy, that I wasn't doing things for him, or with him, and that we weren't having sex, or going out. God, it was less than 6 months after, he didn't even give me time." she balled her fists, angrily. I slowly exhaled, hoping for the best. Hating James more and more as she went on.

"He started yelling at me, calling me names. Which he had never done before. Which made me even more upset. When things didn't change then, he started hitting me, slapping me, throwing me against the wall. But then he would apologize the next day, bringing me gifts, and swearing to me he would never do it again, that he loved me so much, and couldn't bear to lose me, he blamed it on that day at the bank." she bit her lip, trying to fight back the tears that were falling from her face. I reached up and wiped them away, letting her continue her story. I hated James. I wanted to go to where he was and snap his neck.

"Things ended up getting worse, he would beat me until I blacked out, and he would bring other girls home, and have sex with them, in my bed." she was shaking with anger now, or maybe I was the one shaking, I wasn't too sure, her voice was relevantly calm.

"When he couldn't get another girl, he would force sex on me, I would tell him no, to stop, but of course he didn't listen. I tried to fight back, but he would make it worse for me. By this time he was done with training, and was a cop, he had guns, I knew he would use them. So I would close my eyes, and pretend I was somewhere else, while he fucked me until he got off." she shivered, I felt the anger continue build inside me, I fought back a growl, she needed to get this off her shoulders, without me breaking something.

"I would crawl to the bathroom, and stay in the shower for hours, scrubbing until I bled, to get him off of me." she sighed, defeated "there was nothing I could do, he was a cop, he had connections, I was screwed" she slumped her shoulders.

Note to self: Find out who and where James is and rip him to shreds and burn the pieces.

"When I found out I was pregnant, I was scared out of my mind. When I told him, he was thrilled, he stopped the beatings, and stopped bringing girls home. I really thought things were great, back to normal, that he had just been going through a dark time, but the baby had made it better." she smiled at me, her eyes red and puffy from crying. My heart ached seeing her this way.

Did I mention I wanted to find James and rip his spleen out?

"Then, we were visiting his family, earlier this week, and I guess I said something that made him look bad, so he beat me, until I blacked out, that night I came into the hospital." she explained, her eyes were glazed over, it looked like she was trying to remember the events from that night.

I wanted to take her in my arms and never let her go, never let another bad thing happen to her. Show her that she deserved to be loved, and that she could be loved.

"I woke up in his car, sore and covered in blood, as he slowed the car down enough for me to jump out in front of the hospital, I didn't know how long I was out, or even what he did to me once I was out. All I knew was that my whole body hurt, that there was too much blood, way too much blood, and my stomach hurt so bad, like my insides were being forcefully ripped out. I knew I had to get to a doctor, I knew deep down he hurt our baby." the tears were rolling freely down her face, I pulled her into my arms, hugging her tightly to my chest.

I knew that I had to take care of her, to protect her, to make sure this monster would never, ever find her again. And most of all never let him lay another finger on her.

I would do whatever it takes.


	7. Chapter 7

Not sure why I'm updating a new chapter ALREADY ... that's 3 in one day! You guys are lucky I'm jus trying to put off writing my paper! =P

Enjoy!

Stephanie Meyer owns all things Twilight!

* * *

-7-

**BPOV**

I was crying like a baby, in Edward's arms. I was embarrassed to say the least.

But it felt good to finally tell somebody the truth. Not lying, saying I fell down the stairs, or tripped over a chair. It felt good. It had been easier than I thought to tell someone, once I had started, it just kept coming.

Like word vomit. Diarrhea of the mouth.

"Thank you, for trusting me, Bella" he whispered into my hair.

"Thank you, for listening." I whispered back.

"Bella, I want you to know I will do everything in my power to protect you." Edward said pulling away from me, keeping his hands on my shoulders, as if he was keeping me steady. "He's a cop, there's a good chance he could find you again." he told me, worry covering his face.

He was so caring, every time he looked worried because of me I felt pangs of guilt run through my body.

A man as beautiful as Edward Cullen should always be smiling. I didn't like when he wasn't. I especially didn't like it when it was my fault he wasn't.

"I know, that's why I shouldn't even be here, or get anyone involved, he's a cop, he can ruin your records, make you look like the bad guy, ruin your life." I frowned, shaking my head, I had already been enough of a burden, I couldn't continue to be.

"I'm going to help you figure this out, my family and I want to, you deserve to live a healthy, happy life." Edward brushed his fingers along my cheek, sending jolts of electricity through my body.

"Edward, you've already done so much…" I put my hands flat on his chest. I don't know where my sudden boldness was coming from. Something about him, made me feel incredibly comfortable.

"Stop." he said, giving me a stern look. I immediately jumped back, but he grinned at my foolishness, and pulled me closer to him. "I've made my decision, and there is nothing you can do to change it."

"Edward" I nearly growled, he was so frustrating.

He opened his mouth like he was going to fight me some more, but his cell phone rang distracting us. He looked at his phone and scrunched up his face in disgust.

"Work." he mouthed silently as he picked it up and walked out of the room.

I leaned back against the couch, the sound of crunching leather filled the silence of the room. I sighed. My life had gone from a complete disaster, to being not so bad.

Granted, I had a mess of things to work out, I had to get myself far away, possibly with a whole new identity, I needed a job, I needed a place to stay.

I also kept trying to push the thought of my baby being dead out of my mind, but then I just felt extremely guilty. In all honesty, I was never going to be able to forget that, and I knew it. Why I was trying to fool myself was beyond me.

I had so many regrets in my life, and I was only 25.

I wished I left James when I had the chance.

I wished he had used condoms.

I wished I never left Arizona.

I wished Charlie had never died.

I wished Renee had never died.

I blinked back the tears. Willing myself to be strong.

I wished I stayed in touch with Billy, and Jacob Black.

I wish I had listened to Jacob when he told me that there was something off about James.

I wished I had family.

I wished I prepared for this disaster.

But most of all.

I wished I didn't have to rely on a complete stranger to help me.

And, I wished I had my baby.

I wished I had my baby.

I wrapped my arms around myself, the traitor tears rolling down my face. I pulled my knees up to my chest, tightening my arms around them, putting my forehead down on my knees, and let myself cry.

I cried for my baby. That I couldn't protect.

I cried for James. Who I couldn't change.

I cried for Charlie. Who I couldn't save.

I cried for Renee. Who died because of me.

And I cried for myself. Because of what I had let my life become.

I was too deep into my sobbing to even hear Edward come back into the living room. His strong arms wrapped around my body tightly, pulling me into him.

"Bella." his soothing voice said softly into my hair, he was rubbing small circles on my back, trying to comfort me. I couldn't answer him, I let myself cry, soaking his bare shoulder.

"Bella, sweetheart, you're safe here, everything will end up okay, I promise." Edward said a few minutes later. I sat up straight, sliding and wiped the tears from my eyes. I probably looked ridiculous.

All I had been doing since he met me was crying. What a mess.

He probably thinks I'm this fragile, breakable, pathetic, little girl. I sighed, finally looking up to meet his eyes.

They were the most beautiful emerald green, with specks of sage, they were clouded with worry. I furrowed my brow, resting my hand on his knee. Trying to ignore the electricity that turbo charged my heart so that it was head banging against my ribcage. Him and his beauty were dangerous to my wellbeing.

Okay. Time to be serious. I shook the thoughts from my mind. Focusing back on the worried Edward in front of me.

"Edward?" I asked, he was worrying me now. His face expressed pain, his jaw was locked, his lips in a tight line. His forehead was crumpled, forcing his eyebrows almost into a unibrow.

"Bella" he breathed finally, his face relaxing, it looked as if he was debating something in his head. "well.. the hospital..." his sentence was choppy. "They need you to go down there, and make, arrangements..." he trailed off, pinching the bridge of his nose. A nervous habit.

I looked at him in utter confusion, what was he talking about, arrangements for what? Why was he nervous? Why wasn't this making sense.

"Edward.. I don't understand.." I squeezed his hand tightly. He slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"Arrangements for your baby, Bella" he was careful as he spoke "whether you want a service, and if you want a burial service, or have him cremated..." he said softly. "or you can tell them it's too painful, and they will take care of it."

I sat motionless for a second while the weight of everything he had just told me hit me like a freight train.

"I had a son?" I asked, barely a whisper, not even sure he could hear me. I let my head fall, so I was looking at my legs on the couch, I was trying to let what he told me, register in my mind, without all the emotions that were attached to it. But all it was doing was making the ache in my heart even worse.

I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to hold myself together. It felt as if I had a gaping hole in my chest, and it just kept continually getting bigger, and ripping me apart.

I began to sob, harder, my whole body was shaking. Edward hugged me to his chest, whispering soothing words into my ear, but I couldn't even make out what he was saying.

Why did James have to hurt our son? Our helpless, perfect son. He was supposed to bring us together, to fix the problems we had.

I let the sobs rack my body.

My breathing started to shorten, my chest began to tighten.

I couldn't breathe.

But I couldn't catch my breath because I was crying so hard. I grabbed onto Edward's forearms tightly, and tried to calm my breathing down.

"Bella? Edward?" a vaguely familiar voice called, but it sounded as if she was 10000 miles away. "I went shopping for more clothes for-" it stopped abruptly.

"Alice" Edward said "She's having a panic-" he was saying more, but my brain couldn't make out the rest of his words.

I tried to focus on something, anything, but my vision was tunneled, and everything was blurry. I put my hands over my chest, trying to slow my breathing, to take deep breaths.

Nothing was helping. Maybe I was having a heart attack. I hoped I was. I just wanted to be put out of my misery. To be with my son. Away from James, with Charlie, and with Renee. Home. Where I would be happy.

I could hear them talking, I wasn't sure if it was even talking to me, but I had no energy to respond either way. The voices kept fading in and out. Before I knew what was happening, all the surrounding noises faded and my world went black.


	8. Chapter 8

-8-

**EmPOV**

"Rosie, come on baby" I looked at my sexy ass fiancé and grabbed her hand, pulling her to me. I was so horny, I just wanted to fuck, bad.

"So Edward has a girl at his place, really?" she asked me, looking up at me with her sexy blue eyes, and suckable pouty red lips. I felt my pants tightening just looking at her.

I told her about meeting Bella when I had left the apartment, and she kept giving me the third degree, she really didn't believe me.

Why the hell would I make that shit up?

I couldn't have imagined a better breakfast if I was hit in the head with it. As much as I loved Rosie, she didn't cook, it just wasn't her thing. Which was cool with me. Other areas totally made up for that.

"Yeah! She totally spent the night too! She was making breakfast, and it was delicious too, I'm going over every fucking morning that she's there man"

"Are you sure she spent the night?" she asked me, flipping her golden blonde hair over her shoulder.

It made me think about pulling it.

Which then, got my wheels turning about bending Rose over the kitchen counter, doggy style, and pulling her hair.

Which made me think of bondage.

Which made me think of Rose in leather. With whips, and handcuffs.

My pants tightened even more, and I'm pretty sure I was sporting a jean-tent.

"baby, let's stay here." I pushed her against the wall, leaning into her as I kissed her neck, grazing it with my teeth.

"Emmett." she growled, which only made me even hotter for her, she put her hands on my chest and pushed me away. "Put little Emmett away, we're going to Edward's to see his girlfriend!"

She just called my dick little. Nothing about Emmett Cullen was little. ESPECIALLY not his dick.

"Emmett the second, Rosie, NOT little Emmett." I told her, following her out the front door, onto the front porch we shared with my little brother.

I watched her ass as we walked.

I would follow that ass anywhere.

Mmm. Rosie's Ass. Which got me thinking of doggy style.

Which got me thinking of other positions.

I adjusted my pants, I wouldn't want to give poor Bella the wrong impression.

Or did I?

We walked through the door not even knocking, no one ever knocked.

It wasn't like we had to worry about him being indecent. But now that he had Bella I guess we should start knocking.

Although, catching Bella naked probably wouldn't be so bad.

Bella Naked.

Which made me think of Bella and Rose naked.

Together.

Doing dirty things to each other.

I wonder if Edward would go for it. I'd make sure to bring it up.

As we walked into the living room, my head was so clouded with images of Rose and Bella that I didn't even see what was going on until Rosalie stopped dead in her tracks, I nearly barreled into her.

My first instinct was to look at her to make sure she was okay, she had her hand clasped over her perfect lips, and her blue eyes were wide staring past me.

I turned to see what she was looking at, Bella was lying on the couch, not moving, or speaking, her eyes were closed. I would have thought she was sleeping, except Edward was hovered over her, with a damp wash cloth, whispering weird shit in her ear, looking frustrated.

Alice was bouncing around the room, freaking out.

That's when I noticed about a hundred shopping bags in a pile in the middle of the floor.

Death by shopping. Who woulda thought?

"Alice. Did you really make her shop till she dropped?" I asked my sister, she stopped moving to turn to me, put her hands on her hips and glared angrily at me. She may only be four feet tall but Alice can pack a punch, I know, I taught her, and had been on the receiving end too many times.

"Kidding. I was just trying to lighten the mood!" I threw my hands up, feigning innocence. Edward and Alice still glared at me. Sometimes I really don't know how we can be related, they could be way too serious for me to handle.

"What happened?" Rose asked, looking between my brother and sister, and back to Bella, obviously annoyed with being left in the dark.

"She had a panic attack, and blacked out." Edward told us. I rolled my eyes. She would come to, and be fine. Why were their panties in a bunch? Babies.

"She'll be fine" I told them. My idiot doctor of a brother clearly didn't know anything.

"Emmett, you don't even know what's going on!" Alice pointed out angrily.

"Shove it" I frowned at her and walked toward the kitchen to get something to munch on.

It's not that I didn't care about Bella. I did. I was just hungry, plus if it was really that serious she would be in the hospital, not on Edward's couch. People had panic attacks all the time, she would come to and be okay. And food was pretty much amazing. Food trumps all.

I opened the fridge and frowned when there was nothing good. I shut it and opened the freezer and grinned when I saw a box of fudgesicles, I love fudgesicles almost as much as I love beer, and Rosalie.

I grabbed one and took the wrapper off, popping it in my mouth, pausing for a minute to enjoy the chocolaty goodness. Fudgesicles definitely weren't given enough credit. They were simple, and plain, yes, they didn't have cool colors, or peanuts, or chocolate chips, or sprinkles, or anything fancy, but they were fucking amazing, almost better than all that fancy shit.

I heard commotion from the other room, Bella must have come to, I grabbed another fudgesicle and took the wrapper off walking into the living room.

I was right. Emmett is always right, remember that.

Bella was sitting up leaning against the arm of the couch looking absolutely miserable, with Edward, Rose, and Alice hovering around her like overprotective parents.

They really needed to take a page from Emmett's book and just chill.

"You really need two of those?" Rose asked, noticing me walk in, and of course giving me her signature bitchy look, I frowned at her.

"No!" I feigned hurt, and held it out to Bella "it's for Bella Blackout." I smiled at her.

Edward glared at me, trying to scare me, sorry little bro, not working.

She weakly smiled back and took the fudgesicle from my hand "thank you." she said quietly.

"See, you three panicked like little babies, and all she needed was some chocolate, that's a chick thing, why am I the only one to see that?" I winked at Bella and shrugged at my family. I was trying to downplay the situation for her, her face could not be any redder from embarrassment, so I figured if I made a joke out of it, she would feel a little better.

"Oh Emmett!" Alice sighed, rolling her eyes, looking at Rosalie who had to hide her giggles in my side.

Thank you ladies and gentlemen, Emmett Cullen is a god.

"You two get out of here, she's overwhelmed." Alice insisted, literally pushing us out the door.

Where she hid her strength in that tiny body was a mystery to me, I'm not sure anyone would ever really know the mystery that was Alice Cullen.

I frowned as she continued to push us out.

I was just kicked out by a 4'11 midget. I grimaced, looking down at her.

She was grinning widely at me.

Devil child.

She promised Rose she would call her when it was okay for us to come back and slammed the door in our faces.

Like I said, Devil Child.


	9. Chapter 9

Hi y'all - the amount of attention you are giving to this story means the world to me, you are all beautiful &amp; wonderful little readers!

I've been getting a mixed reviews on Emmett's POV, I know that he was a little pervy &amp; inappropriate - but the story is so dark, I wanted to add some humor to lighten it up a little, &amp; as always, Emmett is a great candidate for that! - **Don't worry, I promise he redeems himself later**!

**Disclaimer:** Stephanie Meyer owns all things Twilight, I'm just playing in her world.

* * *

-9-

**EPOV**

I was glad when Alice made Emmett and Rosalie leave. Emmett wasn't helping, and neither him nor Rose knew the situation. I would fill them in eventually, when the time was right, but right now wasn't the right time.

I turned my focus back on Bella who was laying back, sucking on the fudgesicle Emmett had given her, quietly, she was pale, and the makeup she had put on this morning was streaked down her face.

I empathized with her, she was still heartbroken about the baby not making it, and now she had to go make arrangements, and bury the son she would never know. She hadn't even known it was a boy. I probably would have passed out from shock if I was in that position as well.

Burying my mother was devastating, I could not even begin to fathom the amount of pain she must be in.

Alice walked back in and took a seat on the other side of Bella. Wrapping her tiny arms around her.

"I can't do it Edward." she finally said, not looking up from her fudgesicle, leaning her head on Alice's shoulder. Alice rubbed her arms reassuringly, nodding at me in agreeance.

"I'll tell them to make whatever arrangements they need to, that it's too painful for you." I told her, completely understanding that she couldn't handle it.

"Thank you" she said, barely above a whisper, still not looking at me, I was worried.

"They won't bother you about this again" I reassured her. "Also, I'm going to ... Work on making things more permanent for you." I said, even though this was probably the worst time to bring something like that up, I cursed at myself.

"What?" she and Alice both asked at the same time, looking at me with confused looks on their faces.

"I'll explain later, when I have more of the information for you. I just need to know that you trust me. Do you trust me Bella?" I asked, taking her empty hand in mine. Working my hardest to ignore the spark that ignited in my heart.

She looked up at me with wide, worried eyes. And nodded.

That wasn't enough. I needed to be a hundred percent sure.

I needed her to trust me, more than I had ever needed anything. I wanted to prove to her that I would never let her down like everyone else had, that I cherished her trust.

"Say it." I told her, trying to sound stern, but not mean.

"I trust you, Edward." she said matching my voice.

I pulled her into a tight hug, kissing her forehead, looking at Alice who had a mischievous look on her face. Leave it to Alice to be planning something all the time.

Even though I was pretty sure she already knew how I felt. Alice could read me like an open book. Alice always had an uncanny way of knowing things, and she was usually right. We had an ongoing family joke to never bet against Alice, and we never did, and she usually never steered us the wrong way.

The next few weeks went by quickly.

My days off I spent with Bella, getting to know her, and continuing to tell her how James wouldn't find her, and that I was going to protect her no matter what.

She had begun to relax around me more. She had also gotten to know my siblings and their significant others, and had hit it off with all of them. But Rose was not the easiest person to get along with. I pulled her aside multiple times, but she continued to be stubborn, but I knew she'd eventually come around. She was convinced that Bella was sticking around to mooch off of the families money, and take advantage of our kindness. No matter how many times I told her how wrong she was, she wouldn't believe me. Emmett would convince her otherwise, it was just going to take time.

Bella didn't seem to notice though; she was preoccupied with worry, and pain. On the plus side she had started going to Jasper's office, and it had been helping her. Jasper and his colleague, Dr. Embry, who was her therapist, had spoken very highly of her, and that her progress was coming along nicely.

I wanted to be able take her pain completely away, to tell her there was nothing to worry about, but I knew that was almost impossible to do.

All I had felt myself wanting to do was kiss her sweet lips. The Emmett in me was becoming more and more dominant the more I spent time with Bella.

The day Bella blacked out I came into the hospital, and told them to take care of her son, and to not contact either one of us about it again. Bella would never forget the pain that the loss of her son has caused, but the faster she can move on, and try to put it behind her, was definitely the best option.

She was strong; I could see that in her. But how many losses can one person take? She had been losing people she loved her entire life. It was clear the way she acted that these last two losses were the straw that broke the camel's back.

I ran my fingers through my hair, leaning back into my leather chair. It was late, it seemed whenever I had days off the paperwork just accumulated so much more than usual.

I was a little worried about leaving Bella alone, but she usually didn't end up alone, Emmett and Rose would end up there, Emmett stuck to his word and came over every morning for breakfast, and many times Alice and Jasper would usually show up. Everyone had really taken a liking to her.

She usually ended up making big dinners for us all. She seemed to enjoy cooking, and man that girl could cook.

I'm not sure what my family thought me and Bella were. I knew Alice and Jasper knew the truth. But Emmett and Rose thought she was my girlfriend, they knew parts of Bella's story, but not the entire thing.

I couldn't blame them, I never really brought girls home, and she was basically living with me. The way I was with Bella, was definitely more than friends. Whenever I had the chance to touch her, I took it.

That spark that I felt when I touched her was something I was looking forward to, I began craving it, like a drug. I couldn't get enough of her. I couldn't get her off my mind, ever.

Whether it was brushing her hair out of her face, or hugging her, or rubbing her back, or holding her hand, or kissing her forehead.

I know it probably wasn't fair to her, because she just got out of a difficult relationship. But I couldn't help it. I was selfish when it came to her. But I did my best not to make her feel uncomfortable, or bring any of my feelings up. I knew she needed her time to heal, and I was doing my best to give her that space.

But it was hard. When I wasn't with her, all I could think of was what she was doing, how she was doing. If she was alright, if she was okay, just everything involving her. When I was with her, all I could think about was making her happy, and constantly wondering what was going through her mind, I would kill to be a mind reader some days.

I sighed, trying to shake the thoughts from my mind as I looked over the paperwork on my desk.

I needed to make sure that Bella was safe, that there was no way James could get to her again.

The thing that kept pulling at me was the fact that James hadn't even called the hospital to see if his girlfriend was okay, to see if his baby was okay. What kind of monster was he?

It had been over a month since the night she showed up at the hospital, and every time I had a chance to look online to see if any reports of a missing woman had been added, there was nothing.

Bella hadn't talked about him, or anything about her past to me, or to any one else since the night she had opened up and told me everything. We had the one discussion and that was it, it was never spoke of again. I wasn't sure if that was a good, or a bad thing.

I wanted to erase her past for her, to erase all her hurting and pain, to make her happy again. I would do whatever it takes.

I sighed. Knowing what I had to do. I piled the papers up and pulled out my cell phone. I knew exactly what I had to do to protect her, and I knew who I had to call to help me.

It wasn't a phone call I was particularly looking forward to. Other than the fact that this would be held against me for the rest of eternity, but because what I was about to do wasn't exactly legal, and I didn't exactly talk it over with Bella yet, but this was the only way to make sure she was safe. I would do whatever it took.

I sighed, scrolling through my phone book and found who I needed. I pinched the bridge of my nose and hit the call button, bringing my phone to my ear.

"Hello?" the familiar voice said after only a few rings.

"Hello, this is Edward Cullen" I sighed, bracing myself.


	10. Chapter 10

-**10**-

**BPOV**

I sighed, looking at the clock for the 90483904392th time in the last hour.

It was 7:30, and Edward was still at work. He was usually home by now.

I used to like being alone, when I was with James.

But now being alone scared me, every time there was any kind of noise I panicked, giving myself an attack, thinking it was James, somehow finding me, to take me back to Forks. I hated that I had turned into such a huge scaredy cat, it was pathetic.

I was so lost in thought that I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the front door open. I jumped behind the couch, and crouched down on my hands and knees, praying for my life.

It was only when I heard the clinking of heels when I realized how ridiculous I was. I stood up, wiping myself off sheepishly. I looked up to see Alice and Jasper standing in front of the couch. Alice looking at me disapproving, and Jasper looking concerned.

"Bella," Alice scolded, putting her hands on her hips. She had witnessed me do this multiple times. I had filled her in on some of the situation with James, leaving out the more gory details, as I did with Edward. Jasper knew as well. I was comfortable with him. He was easy to talk to.

But none of them knew the whole truth. They would never look at me the same if they knew just how bad things were.

"Sorry Alice, Jasper." I said and sent them a small smile.

"Get dressed, we are going to make you over!" she announced, a big grin covering her face.

"What?" I asked, looking between the two. Jasper sent me an apologetic look from behind Alice and shrugged.

"Come on, I'm helping you pick out an outfit, after your makeover, Edward is going to meet the three of us for dinner, chop, chop!" Alice demanded, grabbing my arm and pulling me up the stairs. I turned to look at Jasper, to get him to save me from his evil wife, but he snickered, plopping down on the couch, getting comfortable. Which made me a little worried.

"Alice, why do I need a makeover?" I asked her once we made it to my room. I sat on the edge of my bed, watching her rifle through the clothes I had.

"None of this will do." she said giving me an incredulous look, ignoring my question "I guess what your wearing is fine, for now, we'll just stop by the mall on the way to dinner" I looked down at my outfit, I was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a plain tank top. I thought I looked fine.

Something told me not to fight with Alice.

I put on a pair of flip flops and reluctantly followed her down the stairs. She was going on and on about all the different things we could do to my hair.

I liked my hair. Why did I have to change it?

I followed her and Jasper to Jasper's SUV, and climbed in the back, watching how Jasper held the door open for both Alice and me, and shut them both once we were securely in the car.

Who said chivalry was dead? James had never done that for me, Charlie did when I was a little kid, but that was it.

As Jasper drove, Alice continued to chatter about hair, nails, makeup, and clothes. I chose to stay quiet, Alice didn't seem to notice, she was in her own little fashion world. Jasper was another story though, he kept glancing at me in the rearview mirror.

We pulled up to the salon, Snips &amp; Tips. I inwardly groaned as Alice literally dragged me in. "Is this really necessary?" I finally asked as she pushed me into a chair. I looked between her and Jasper, waiting for someone to answer me.

Alice looked at me, and opened her mouth like she was about to answer, but Jasper beat her to it. Luckily I think that was better for me.

"Bella. Do you want to be recognized? On the off chance James or someone else is around, do you want to be so easily picked out?" a southern drawl clear in his voice.

I bit my bottom lip and shook my head. "I promise, we won't do anything drastic sweetheart, just so it's a little harder for him to recognize you." he finished, giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

I sighed, nodding, giving in. He did have a point.

Alice jumped up and down in excitement, and told the hairdresser, the woman doing my nails, the woman doing my eyebrows, and the woman doing my toenails exactly what she wanted.

After what felt like seven hours they were all finally done. I decided to take small steps first.

I looked down at my feet, my toes had clear polish, and white tips. Simple enough. I looked at my fingernails, also clear, with white tips. Not as bad as I thought.

I took a deep breath and spun my chair around to look at myself in the mirror. My normally, dark brown long hair, was now a caramel color, cut just above my shoulders, with side swept bangs, and layers. My eyebrows didn't look much different, thinner and groomed.

"Wow, I like it." I finally managed to say, earning a chuckle from Jasper, and Alice was immediately at my side jumping up and down beaming.

"See!" she squealed excitedly "you look so amazing, and different enough so that a quick glance someone from your past wouldn't recognize you!" she added in quietly, but I was too busy gawking at myself to realize that Alice had already paid.

She was now dragging both Jasper and I back to the car, going on about how we had very little time to find an outfit before dinner. I just shrugged my shoulders and followed them.

We pulled up to the mall, and Jasper opted to stay in the car. To say I was jealous was an understatement. Shopping had never been my thing. I made sure to shoot him a glare as she hauled me out of the car. He had the nerve to laugh at me.

Alice and I fought the entire time we were at the mall. I know I wasn't being fair, seeing as how she was spending money on me, and pampering me. I just didn't see the reason why I had to try on a million different black shirts.

I loved Alice, I really did, she had become an amazing friend, she always knew if I was having an off day, she knew how to cheer me up, I could tell her things, even the attraction I had to her brother, and she would hear me out, and give me her honest opinion. She would tell me things about her, and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett, and Edward. She really made me feel like I belonged.

I just hated shopping.

We finally agreed on an outfit. A navy blue halter dress, it was tight and then flared out at the waist. She tried to get me to wear heels, but I refused, and she must have realized I wouldn't cave on that, so we settled for white flats. Once she had forcefully, shoved me into the dressing room, and locked me in, I changed.

We were now at the restaurant, La Bella Italiana, I smirked at the name, following Jasper and Alice to the front desk, where a young looking hostess greeted us. Licking her lips as she looked at Jasper. I felt my face redden at her boldness.

"Table for 4 please." Alice said sneering at the girl, wrapping her tiny arm around Jasper, making sure her left hand was clearly exposed, "under Cullen." she continued, narrowing her eyes at the hostess. For being so tiny, Alice was pretty intimidating. I made sure to save this view and to make sure to never get on her bad side. Ever.

The hostess immediately sensed Alice's anger and backed off. She led us to the table where Edward was already sitting, nearly throwing the menus on the table, and took off.

I relaxed when I saw Edward. The day full of shopping and makeovers seemed worth it, now that I knew I was safe, and near him. He made things okay, and he wasn't bad to look at either.

He stood up when he saw me and walked up to me, pulling me into a hug. I relaxed into his chest, and his familiar smell of mint, and clean.

"Bella, you look absolutely stunning." he whispered in my ear as he pulled my chair out for me. I blushed and took the seat next to him.

Throughout dinner, he found my hand under the table and held it, while Alice told us stories about growing up with two older brothers, and Jasper told us embarrassing stories about Rosalie. We laughed loudly, and enjoyed our time together, it felt almost perfect.

I felt so much better than I had in a long time, I couldn't remember the last time I had gone out with friends and laughed, and didn't have to worry about what I said, or what would happen once we got home. It felt good to be normal.

At the end of the night I thanked Alice and Jasper for everything, we said our goodbyes and got into Edward's Volvo. We made small talk about our days, the entire time Edward never took his hand from mine, and everything just felt right.

"Bella," Edward said softly, as we stepped onto his porch, the cool night air wrapped around us, I shuttered a little bit. He took a step closer, and lifted his fingers to my face, trailing them down my cheek and along my jaw line, leaving a fiery trail as he went. I felt my butterflies flutter, and my heart start to pound on my ribcage like a jackhammer. "I just want to try something." he whispered, leaning down closer to me, he brushed his lips lightly against mine, I was sure if my eyes were open I could see the sparks it had caused. He must have felt it too, because he pulled me closer to him, and began to kiss me with more passion behind it.

I slid my arms around his neck, having to lean into him from my knees going weak, as our lips moved together, I ran my tongue along his bottom lip, he moaned into my mouth, it was the sexiest moan I had ever heard, it sent chills down my spine.

It was over too quickly as he pulled away, breaking our kiss, but not our eye contact "Bella." he said exasperated. I felt myself instantly panic, my breathing start to shorten.

"Edward, I don't know if I'm ready for any type of relationship, I still have so much to work out, but I do know that I do have feelings for you, I feel so safe with you, and I like how things have been going with us.. I just…" I trailed off, word vomit again. But I wasn't embarrassed, I wanted to be honest with him.

"Bella, I don't expect us to rush anything, I don't even expect us to have any kind of label, or anything. I feel the same way about you, you're always on my mind, all the time, and you have made my life so much better since you walked into it. I would never want to rush you or make you feel uncomfortable, or anything like that. We can do this on your terms, I am fully prepared to stand by your side and help you heal and get back to the woman you want to be." He said, brushing a loose strand of hair from my face.

"Let's just take it day by day." I suggested, because that's the only way I knew how to live, and it seemed to be working with us thus far.

"I like the sound of that." He smiled, giving me a soft kiss on the forehead.

"Thank you." I smiled up at him, a genuine smile.

"It's getting late. I have to work tomorrow." he smiled, unlocking the door and leading me inside.

I felt almost incomplete not touching him. When he was near me all my problems, and fears melted away. When we were touching, even if it was just something little, my world was absolutely perfect. I had never felt that before.

"This is for you, if you have any questions, we can talk tomorrow alright?" he handed me a thick manila envelope, kissed the top of my head and walked up the stairs.

I leaned against the counter, still being dazed by the kiss, and opened the envelope, I wasn't sure what any of this would be, I remembered Edward saying he was going to start making things more permanent, but I wasn't sure what that meant.

The first few things I pulled out were ID's, A social security card, a license, a credit card, and a library card. The pictures on the I.D's were the ones Alice had snapped at the mall after my makeover tonight, she was a sneaky little thing. I looked at them, they all had the name Bella Elizabeth Masen. The address on the license was Edward's address. My social security number had completely changed.

I pulled out the rest of the documents. There was a birth certificate that was completely bogus. But it looked authentic, luckily my birthday was the same. Along with a passport. A high school diploma. A college bachelor's degree which I actually earned back in my old life, how Edward knew these things was beyond me.

The last sheet of paper in the envelope was a note from Edward. His writing was almost perfect, as if it was a font on a computer.

_Bella,_

_I hope this is not completely crossing the line, Aro, the man who helped me with _  
_this, works with the hospital and with the government, whenever a patient is in a _  
_life threatening situation, they help us out by completely changing the identity of _  
_the patient. I was able to let them keep your first name at Bella, and Elizabeth _  
_Masen is my mother's name, I hope you don't mind. It seemed fitting. Everything_  
_ is legit, you will be able to start work at the gift shop whenever you are ready to _  
_work, I can help you set up a bank account, and then we can work on getting you _  
_back on your feet._

_Thank you for coming into my life, Bella Masen, it means more than you know._

_\- Edward._

I felt tears well up in my eyes. He had gone above and beyond to help me, and I would repay him as much as I could. He saved my life, I would be forever grateful to Edward Cullen.

I gathered the paperwork and made my way up the stairs.

I was going to get my life back on track. Work at the hospital gift shop until I could find a more fitting job for myself. I would get a car and a cell phone as soon as possible. I was going to build my life back up, better than I was before.

I fell asleep quickly, and had the first full night sleep in years.


	11. Chapter 11

-**11**-

** EPOV**

I woke up to the wonderful aroma of eggs and bacon. With Bella living here, I would never go hungry. I made my way into the shower and let the hot water relax my body.

That girl had my mind in a twist. I couldn't get her off of it, whenever I wasn't with her, I was thinking about her, worrying about her, wondering what she was doing, if she was safe, if she was happy, content. It was ridiculous, in all of my years I had never been so wrapped up in a girl in my life, I never thought that I would be, but Bella made me happy, just being with her, making her smile, and laugh.

I had it bad, and I knew it. I shut off the water and wrapped a towel around my waist as I made my way to my closet, picking out my work clothes for the day. Part of me hoped Bella would come with me, so I wouldn't have to be too far away from her.

Oh god, did I really hope that? One kiss and I was in deeper than I thought.

I quickly got dressed and made my way down to the kitchen, where Bella was dressed wearing a pleated black skirt, a white blouse, and black heels, which made her legs look stunning. Her long hair was pulled back into a tight bun, with a few strands of hair hanging loosely around her face.

I had to strain myself to the extreme, trying to think of puppies, and my grandparents, and vampires, and werewolves. Anything, to get my focus off of the extremely attractive woman standing in front of me.

"You look really nice." I managed to say. She turned around and smiled brightly at me, handing me a plate full of food, taking one of her own and sitting down to eat.

"Thank you!" she replied brightly "and thank you so much for everything you have done for me, and please thank Mr. Aro for me." she said.

I nodded; digging into my food, hoping my guilty expression didn't give me away. I had lied to Bella about Aro being legal. He didn't work with the hospital, or the government. In fact he was one of the most wanted criminals out there, creating fake documents for other criminals, and selling loads of other illegal things. The only reason he didn't get arrested was because his daughter Jane, was dating the Police Chief's son, Seth. Seth happened to be one of my good friends from high school, who had helped me illegally help out a few patients who were in grave danger in the past. I had risked my job, and spent a lot of money helping them, but I knew if I hadn't they wouldn't have survived. I had told myself I would only use Aro as an absolute last resort, but I felt I needed to for Bella.

I just hoped it wouldn't come back and bite me in the ass. I hoped Bella would remain safe.

"So I'm going to come into work today... Is that alright?" Bella asked breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen upon us. I took a sip of my orange juice and smiled up at her.

"Of course, I'm glad you decided to take me up on my offer, Bella." I smiled at her, setting my fork down, placing my hand on top of her free one.

The sparks that I had grown familiar with, and now ached for, shot through my entire body. Her head shot up, her eyes wide. I knew she felt them too, a monkey could feel the spark between us. "Bella, I feel this… need to protect you..." I trailed off, I wasn't sure where I was going with this, but I felt like she should know. "I've tried to back off, and let you progress without me interfering, but I can't do that anymore, I'm… not strong enough to stay away from you." I looked down, feeling like an idiot for telling her this.

I heard her chair scrape against the floor, and heard her heels clinking as she walked over to me, I looked up as she positioned herself so she was standing in between my legs, wrapping her arms around my neck, looking into my eyes.

It took all of my strength not to ignore everything she was about to say and take her face into my hands, and kiss her with everything I had.

"Edward, you are an amazing person, you have helped me more than you even know, you and your entire family, I can't even begin to thank you all for what you have done for me, I don't deserve any of it. I don't want you to stay away from me, I've never been protected like this before, I've never felt sparks like this before. Like I said last night, I have a lot to work on, but with you by my side, I know I can get through this." she smiled sheepishly at me. "Now cheer up and let's go to work!" she kissed my cheek lightly and brought our dirty plates to the dishwasher. I smiled at her and we walked out to my car together and drove to work.

It felt perfect, like this was how my days should start for the rest of my life.

I had never given thought to marriage, and spending my life with someone. I had mostly thought I would end up alone in this big world, that I would never be able to find someone quite right.

But with Bella everything was right we just fit so well. I hoped she felt it too. I needed her to feel it.

The day passed slowly, luckily I didn't have any surgeries to do today, so it gave me a chance to catch up on my paperwork, although, I wasn't getting much done because every chance I got I was down on the first floor, checking in with Bella, making sure she was okay, and making sure everyone was being nice to her. I kind of felt like I was annoying her, I know I was annoying the guy who was training her, but Bella never acted like she was bothered at all, she just smiled at me, and continued to pay attention to what she was being told.

So here I was, in my office not being able to focus on the pile of paperwork that had accumulated on my desk, yet again. I kept debating on going out to see Bella. But I knew I was beginning to get a little obsessive, so instead, I was leaning back in my leather chair, looking at the white ceiling.

I was so glad that I had met Bella, and glad that she had gotten along with my family, she had yet to meet Esme and Carlisle, but I'm pretty sure they would love her. The rest of my family, sans Rosalie was absolutely crazy about her, and we weren't the easiest bunch to impress.

Alice was the easy one, she had always been the social butterfly of the family, she had a bubbly personality that was contagious to everyone around her, although she could be a diva, especially when it came to shopping, she was an amazing person, and had definitely helped us all throughout the years. She worked at a local Children's institution, helping them open up, whether it is with art, music, fashion, or writing, and because she was so bubbly, she had definitely been able to help the majority of the children she was assigned to. She took it hard when she couldn't help them though. Alice was an extreme person, both ways, when she was sad, or mad, or happy, we all knew it. But she was the best when she was happy. Right after our mother died, she took is so hard that she began to go to therapy, which is where she met Jasper.

Jasper and Dr. Embry, had just opened his own office, and Alice had been going to Quil for therapy, but from the first time she had seen Jasper she a feeling about him, Alice always had feelings, and usually they were right, we never bet against her. She forced us all to go to their office so we could make sense of losing our mom, and they really did help the entire family. Jasper was a calm person, and he understood things, he understood when we needed to cry, when we needed to yell, and when we needed to be lectured. His calmness and tranquility eventually rubbed off on all of us, helping us all through our mother's death. Alice was especially moved by him and asked him out on a date and they had been together ever since.

Which is where Rosalie came in. She's Jasper's twin sister, and the complete opposite of him. She and Alice had met, and bonded over shopping and became fast friends. Originally, Jasper and Alice thought that Rosalie and I would be perfect together, we were both fresh out of college, me for med school, her for marketing, and ready to start lives. Well, that was a disaster, we butt heads from the beginning, always fighting with each other, and whenever we got together, it ended in her storming out of wherever we were, and leaving me with the bill. Not that I minded, I would have paid for her anyways.

One night, during one of our routine arguments, we had both had a few too many drinks and I had called her a stubborn bitch, which I regret, and have apologized 1,000 times over for. I'm not usually one for name calling, but it was after a particular argument that really struck a nerve, plus alcohol didn't mix very well. Anyways, word got back to her, and she came to the apartment, Emmett and I shared at the time, to confront me about it, but I wasn't home. Emmett, who is in favor of anyone who busts my balls, and Rosalie completely hit it off, and have started dating shortly after, Rosalie has since lightened up and become nicer to me, but we still do have our arguments.

Emmett is an extremely intimidating person by looks, he grew up with most of the kids our age scared of him, but he never understood why, because despite his tough exterior, Emmett is a big teddy bear, who is a sucker for Alice and her puppy dog face, whose favorite show is Boy Meet's World. He gets even more excited about the little things as Alice does. After going to college for business, Emmett opened up his own motorcycle shop, where he not only builds his own motorcycles, he fixes them, details them, designs them, and makes specialty bikes.

When Rosalie found out what he was doing, she instantly fell in love, and became his partner. With her marketing skills, and smoking hot looks, and his talent, their business blew up, and they are now working on opening another shop in California.

I had always been the odd one out, even growing up, I had a lot of girlfriends, but they never lasted long, I was just never able to click with anyone, until now. Bella made me feel things I never knew that I could feel. That scared me a little bit. But at the same time I had a feeling that she could round out the family.

I just didn't want to rush her.

But I would tell her how I felt eventually. I had to.

I sighed, running my hands through my already messy hair, and leaned back over my desk, trying my hardest to get through the stack of paperwork that was just not going anywhere.

I almost jumped for joy when my phone rang. I reached for it and cleared my throat as I picked it up.

"Hello, Dr. Cullen."

"Dr. Cullen, this is Stephanie, you have a phone call on line 3, a very angry young gentleman who insists on speaking with the surgeon on duty." her whiny voice sounded through the phone. I sighed.

"All right Stephanie, patch him through please." I said politely, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Hello?" A rough voice said through the receiver, I didn't recognize it. But there were many, many patients in this hospital; there were plenty of calls I got that I didn't recognize who the caller was.

"Hello, this is Dr. Cullen." I replied, grabbing a pen and a blank piece of paper.

"Dr. Cullen, I was wondering if there have been any patients in the past month by the name of Marie?" the voice said, he sounded angry, like Stephanie had said.

I thought back to the patients that I had treated and the name Marie didn't ring a bell.

"No, I'm sorry I don't think so, we're really not supposed to give out any patient information over the phone though." I replied, weary of giving out any more information.

"Bull shit! I know she was there!" he seethed through the phone, I could almost feel his anger. "Are there any other Doctors that can give me more fucking help than you have?" he demanded, which was starting to make me angry.

"I'm sorry sir, if you want any more information you are going to have to come into the hospital and provide us with some more information." I continued, setting my pen down, annoyed with this man.

"This is fucking bullshit, you are fucking moronic, just fucking click the little button on your computer and look up the fucking patient list." he rambled.

"Sir, I will not tolerate this disrespect, we have a strict no information over the phone policy, I'm sorry if that is an inconvenience to you in any way, but like I just said, if you want any more information, you are going to have to come in, and provide our secretaries with more information than just a name." I sighed; he was really making me angry now, but I was trying to keep my cool and diffuse the situation.

"Yeah, this is fucking bullshit, this won't be the last you hear from me!" he threatened and I was met with a click, and the silence from the receiver.

I hung up the phone and rubbed my temples. Something about that phone call didn't settle right with me, and I wasn't sure what it was.

I shook my head and got back to my pile of paperwork on my desk. I had to get this done, or else I would really be behind.

So I pushed the disturbing phone call to the back of my mind, and got to work.


	12. Chapter 12

Whoaaa, 2 Chapters in ONE Day!? You guys really must have me feeling some typa way! ;) Thank you all for such wonderful feedback! Really!

I am happy to say I finally finished going through &amp; editing the story. It is 100% Finished.. I have about 10 more chapters until the end to post, I'll take my time with it though, I hope you all continue to enjoy it! :)

**Disclaimer;** Stephanie Meyer owns all things Twilight!

* * *

-**12**-

** BPOV**

A few weeks had passed since my first day working at the hospital, and luckily I had caught on quickly.

Edward and I had been growing closer, the sparks continued to shoot through my veins, and my heart continued to head bang against my ribcage every time we touched, or every time he kissed me.

My attraction toward Edward was undeniable at this point.

I had thought that I was in love with James. But we had never had the spark like Edward and I had. Being with James was more convenient than anything. I had been willing to settle with him for my entire life.

As painful as it had been losing my baby, part of me believed it was for the best, because I would have been tied to James my entire life, and I was not ready for that. Therapy had really been helping me realize that, it was really helping me learn how to move on from my troubled past, that it didn't define me as a person.

I was falling for Edward, hard, and at first it scared the crap out of me. But it didn't so much anymore. I didn't have to worry about the damage he was going to cause if dinner wasn't on time, I didn't have to worry about what I said, or what my facial expressions were. With Edward, I didn't have to worry about anything.

We weren't even together. We just kissed frequently, and were never far from arms reach when we were together. I knew that eventually I wanted to be with him, hell, I wanted to be with him now. But I knew I wasn't ready yet, I was also working on that in therapy as well.

"BELLA!" Emmett boomed waving his hand in front of my face, jolting me from my thoughts. My face instantly reddened, I immediately wondered how long they had been trying to get my attention.

It was game night at Emmett and Rosalie's; We had it every Friday Night, it rotated on who hosted it each week, last week is was our place, and next week it would be Alice and Jasper's; we were playing life and drinking wine. Rosalie and Emmett had laid out a variety of snacks, and there was music playing in the background. Apparently my turn was up. I smiled apologetically at the five pairs of eyes watching me and spun the dial. 10.

"YOU SO OWE ME MONEY!" Alice squealed from her spot across from me as she held up her Police Officer Career card. She was bouncing in her seat and practically beaming. It's a good thing she wasn't a cop in real life, I doubt anyone would fear her, even though she could be absolutely terrifying, just let her bring you shopping.

I laughed and rolled my eyes, handing her the fake paper money.

"You alright? We lost ya for a few minutes." Edward whispered into my ear, snaking an arm around my waist, pulling me into him. I smiled at him and kissed his chin lightly, nodding. He smiled his perfect, crooked smile and sent me a wink as he spun the dial, landing on 7.

"Edward." Rosalie slurred, we were probably on our fourth bottle of wine of the night. She held out her palm, waiting for her money. She had bought the number 7 stock, and gratefully took all of our money each and every time we landed on it. He frowned at her, placing the money in her hand. "I love taking your money the most!" she grinned, making a show of placing it in her large stack of money.

"We know you do Rosie." Emmett laughed softly, draping an arm around her shoulder.

We played the game out, Jasper ended up winning. He's a little snake, he was quiet the entire game, and blew all of us out of the water.

I yawned, leaning back into Edward, who was helping Alice pick up the pieces of the game. I smiled reflexively as I felt both of his arms find their place around me, pulling my back into his chest.

"Ready to go?" he whispered, placing his chin in the crook of my neck, sending shivers down my spine. I nodded, closing my eyes, not wanting to move, I was extremely comfortable where I was.

We said our goodbyes, and even Rosalie seemed sad to see me go, she threw her arms around me and told me she was glad I was in Edward's life. I'm pretty sure it was the wine talking, unless she was finally starting to come around, either way, I was grateful, and welcome to the change of heart.

I looped my arm through Edward's, and stumbled beside him as we began walking to the door. I didn't think I had that much to drink, but this was the first time I had stood up since we began drinking. As we walked out of their front door, my toe caught on the door jam, and I felt myself being thrust forward towards the ground, I threw my hands up, sloppily, and closed my eyes, waiting for the ground, but it never came, Instead Edward's arms wrapped around my middle catching me in mid fall.

"Thank you." I slurred, as he helped me stand back on my feet.

"Silly Bella." Edward's satin voice flowed through my ears like honey as he scooped me off of my feet, carrying me Bridal style into our side of the house. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, more so to be close to him, but I tried playing it off that I was scared to fall as he walked up the stairs.

I don't think he was fooled though.

I tried to ignore my heart beating at rapid speed as he carried me up the stairs and through the hall. I could imagine him doing this on our wedding night.

I shook the thought out of my head, trying not to get ahead of myself. We weren't even dating! I laughed lightly as he playfully tossed me onto his bed. His Bed! I felt myself sober up a little bit, I had been so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even notice when we passed my room.

"Bella" He growled, kneeling on the bed, unbuttoning his t-shirt. I bit my lip as I watched him slowly undo button, by button. Exposing his white wife beater underneath. "You are so beautiful," he said, throwing his shirt carelessly on the floor, hovering over me, placing a chiseled arm on either side of me.

"Edward" I said softly, his lips were so close to mine, and I could hardly concentrate.

"You are so beautiful." he said softly just before his lips crashed against mine. It didn't even take me a second to respond, I grabbed a lock of his hair with one of my hands, and he grabbed my free hand with his own.

"I don't want to rush anything." He breathed when we finally broke the kiss.

"I know, me either." I managed to get out, I was so flustered, and I really did want more, but he was right, things were going good at this pace.

"Will you sleep in here with me?" he asked, rolling off of me, on to his side, draping an arm across my stomach. I smiled, kissing his lips softly.

"Yes." I snuggled myself closer to his body, enjoying the moment.

We spent the night talking, and laughing, telling each other stories from our pasts, and hopes for our futures. It was perfect.

The next morning, I woke up by the blinding light penetrating my eyelids. I groaned angrily, and rolled over, my arm hitting something hard.

Well that was weird.

I cracked one eye, and smiled when I saw Edward's sleeping body next to me.

The events of the night before began to replay in my pounding head, game night, the four bottles of wine, Edward carrying me to his bed, us talking and laughing all night.

I began to freak out, I was falling hard. I had to get out of this room to get my thoughts in order. I had to call Alice. She would help me sort through this.

I slowly and carefully climbed out of Edward's bed, which was comfortable as hell might I add.

I left a quick note to Edward, explaining that I went out with Alice and would be back. I escaped from his room and into the safety of my own.

I don't know why exactly I was freaking out, I mean, it has been a magical night. We were taking things slow. Therapy had been working on preparing me for this. I don't know why I couldn't handle this.

I sat on my bed, and grabbed my cell phone, right as I was going to dial Alice, it started ringing, with her name on the caller id.

"Alice?" I asked, furrowing my brow, talk about weird. "I was just going to call you."

"I had a feeling you were going to, I'm coming to pick you up for breakfast." she said calmly, I agreed and we hung up the phone.

I walked to my closet, and dressed quickly, in black yoga pants and a pink hoodie. Since I had gotten my first paycheck, Alice and I had gone shopping to get me some more clothes. It wasn't nearly as painful as our first shopping trip, luckily for me.

I quietly made my way downstairs, to the porch, and fidgeted as I waited for Alice to pull up.

I sighed in relief as her bright yellow Porsche pulled into the driveway. I jogged to meet her, jumping in the passenger's seat. She smiled at me brightly, reaching across the seat to give me a quick hug.

"You and Edward totally had sex didn't you?" she accused, looking at me skeptically as she began driving.

"No!" I squeaked, leaning my head against the headrest.

"Well something happened, didn't it?" she giggled, I groaned.

"Can we at least wait until I get some kind of food in my system?" I pleaded with her, my stomach was growling loudly at me, wanting me to eat.

"Fine." she huffed, not thrilled with the fact that I didn't tell her any details.

Twenty minutes later, we were sitting inside Sonny's Café; I was eating a heaping plate of eggs, bacon, home fries, and toast accompanied by an oversized glass of coffee. I felt like an elephant next to Alice, who was picking at a muffin, and sipping on a sweet tea.

"So, are you finally ready to tell me what happened?" she asked skeptically, looking up at me, placing her chin in her hand.

I sighed, setting my fork down, taking a sip of my coffee. "Alice, I'm freaking out over nothing, and I don't know why, I hate that I'm not normal. All we did was spend the night together, no sex, we just talked, laughed, and cuddled. It was perfect, and here I am panicking." I sighed, frustrated with myself.

Alice had already known of my infatuation with Edward, she figured it out on her own, and somehow weaseled it out of me. She had been trying to convince me to tell him for the past two weeks, she hadn't been able to crack me though.

"Sweetie, you and Edward are clearly more than friends, you always have been, whether the two of you will admit to it or not. You both have been doing a good job of taking things slow, I don't know how you guys manage." She giggled, but then her face turned serious, "It's okay that you're freaking out honey, you've been through a lot. But Edward would never hurt you at all, so you need to just take a deep breath and use some of the relaxing techniques from therapy to prevent yourself from panicking each time something progresses between the two of you." She said taking a sip of her tea.

"Thank you Alice, you always know the right things to say." I thanked her.

"I'm always here for you sista!"

I laughed at her reasoning, as the waitress came over to hand us our check, and a to go box for me, since clearly my eyes have a bigger appetite than my stomach. We grabbed our things and Alice linked her arm through mine as we walked back out to her car.

"Thank you Alice, you have been so great to me, through everything" I smiled at her. "I also wanted to thank you, for being okay with the fact that I have your mother's name." I said softer.

"Sweetie, Edward talked to myself, Emmett and our father about it beforehand, and we couldn't have agreed more with his decision, you fit in so well with us, it feels like you have been part of the family for as long as Jasper and Rosalie, sometimes even longer." she giggled.

"You don't know how much that means to me Alice, I've never had any brothers and sisters, or even any cousins my age. It's always just been Bella. I really enjoy just hanging out with all of you guys, and just being silly, laughing and having fun." I smiled at her. "I also like that I can talk to you about things." I winked as she pulled back up to the house.

"Oh Bella!" she squealed, she was obviously pleased, I was glad. "I knew that we would be such great friends, but you are more like a sister, and I love it!" she threw her arms around me tightly, kissing my cheek.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks Alice, I'll see you later." I told her, as I stepped out of her car.

"Good luck Sweet cheeks." she winked, and reversed out of the driveway, and disappeared down the street before I even made it inside.

I took a deep breath as I opened the door. I kicked my shoes off, and placed them neatly next to Edward's work shoes, and slowly made my way down the hallway.

I bit my lip as I entered the kitchen, where Edward was leaning against the refrigerator door, bending down, with his back to me, clearly looking for something. He was wearing his flannel pajama pants, and an undershirt.

I cleared my throat quietly, but I saw his body tense up, and I knew that he had heard me "Hi." I said softly, biting my lip as he stood up and turned around, shutting the door quietly behind him.

"Hi," he said, his velvet voice smooth as always, his eyes flickered from my face, to the box in my hands, back to my face "Whatcha got there?" he asked curiously, keeping his feet planted in his spot.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, smiling, making him smile back, which made me relax an immense amount "Alice and I went to breakfast, I brought you left overs." I explained, walking towards the cupboard, pulling out a plate and arranging the food on it, and putting it in the microwave to heat it up.

"Thank god." he groaned, his voice was closer. I turned around and bit my lip; he was merely inches away from me. "My head is killing me, and I am starving!" he told me, rubbing his stomach. I giggled.

"Well, I guess you are lucky I'm around." I winked, leaning back against the counter.

"I am very lucky to have you around Bella Masen." he grinned, my crooked grin, and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into him. I snuggled into him, basking in his warmth.

The microwave beeped and tore me from the comfort of his arms. I smiled as I pulled out the steaming plate and handed it to him. "I'm going to take a quick shower." I told him.

"Alright, dress comfortable, jeans, sneakers, okay?" he grinned at me and took his plate to the table. I furrowed my brow, but nodded and jogged up the stairs to my room.

I wondered what he had planned, I didn't remember him telling me anything about it, none the less, I was excited.

A half hour later, I was out of the shower, wearing a pair of ripped jeans, a dark blue tank top, sneakers, and I just finished braiding my hair so I wouldn't have to worry about it.

I took one quick look in the mirror and headed down the stairs.

"Well, well, about time." Edward joked, winking at me when I had finally clamored down the stairs, nearly falling twice. "I was just about to send the troops out for a search party." he grinned, wrapping his arm around my waist.

I stuck my tongue out at him, because it was the only brilliant response I could come up with. He chuckled at me, kissing my head.

"So where are we going? I didn't know that we had plans today." I told him, as I followed him out the back door, through the backyard. Into the woods behind the house.

"I want to show you something." he told me, grabbing my hand tightly, helping me through the uneven grounds. We walked in comfortable silence as he navigated us deeper into the trees.

"Alright, close your eyes." he said about five minutes later. I gaped at him, I could barely make it through this alive with my eyes open, and he couldn't be serious. He chuckled again "Don't worry, I thought you trusted me?" I sighed in defeat, and closed my eyes.

I squealed as I felt his strong arms lift me up, and carry me for a short ways.

"I'm setting you back down, but don't open your eyes yet." he instructed, I nodded, grabbing his arms tightly as my feet found solid ground.

"Can I open them yet?" I huffed, he was making me really nervous.

"Silly Bella, open them." he said, laughing lightly.

I gasped when I opened my eyes. We stood on the edges of the most beautiful meadow I had ever seen in my entire life. It had white, purple, yellow, and pink wild flowers sprinkled throughout, and it was mostly shady, except for the middle, where the sun shone through perfectly. The grass was long and vibrant green, sparkling in the sun. It looked like a fairy tale.

"Edward," I managed to say, not much louder than a whisper, I didn't want to disturb the peacefulness of this place "this is breathtaking."

"I know, my mother and I found this way back, we used to go on hikes together, and just talk, and we came across this, a little bit before she couldn't really walk anymore, and we came back every day, some days I would even carry her out here, we would just talk and talk for hours. When the house went on the market, I knew I had to buy it, so that I could be close by. I come here a lot to think. Sometimes I think she's here, as crazy as it sounds. But being here makes my thoughts clearer, and I just, feel close to her." He said, his eyes were glazed over, as if he was looking through time, into the past.

"It's not crazy Edward, I completely understand." I told him "Sometimes I go to Phoenix, and visit places my mom and I used to go to." I smiled up at him, taking his large hand in my own small one, and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Nobody knows about this, not even Alice or Emmett." he told me, which surprised me, they were all really close.

"Thank you for giving me the privilege of seeing it." I said softly.

"You are worth it Bella," he said softly, pulling me towards him, cupping my face in his hands "I want you to know that, and believe that. You are worth the world. You are the most amazing woman I have ever met, and strong, and witty, and beautiful, and funny." he kissed my nose, and each cheek, and chin, and forehead.

"I also want to apologize for last night. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable." He smiled at me, blushing slightly "I don't want you to feel rushed, I know that you still have a lot of pain that you are dealing with. But I want you to know I care so much for you."

I smiled widely and wrapped my arms around his neck kissing him. "Please don't apologize Edward! I care so much about you, I'm working on getting back to normal, therapy, you, Alice, all of you guys are helping me, thank you for being so patient with me." I kissed him again, and could feel him smiling against my lips.

But there was still something that tugged in the back of my mind a little bit.

Something I had been hiding from Edward.

And I knew I had to tell him.

But not now, I refused to ruin our happy moment.


	13. Chapter 13

-13-

EPOV

It was Monday morning, and I was happy. I was never happy on Monday mornings. But I was now. I had a reason to be now.

I rolled over, and looked at Bella peacefully sleeping next to me, it almost broke my heart to wake her up. But we would be going into work together, so I didn't have to be away from her, so it made up for it.

I pushed a strand of hair from her face, and kissed her on each cheek, on her chin, her forehead, and her nose.

"Bella," I said softly, her face crinkled up, so I knew she was awake. "It's time to get up and get ready for work, love" I said softly into her ear.

"Edward," she groaned, opening one eye to look at me, I chuckled at her silliness. "Noooo!" she playfully wailed, covering her face with the pillow.

"Come on Sleeping Beauty." I laughed, placing a kiss on her lips, and getting out of bed, not wanting to move myself.

"Ugh!" she groaned from the bed, and flung the covers from her body. "I hate mornings!" she exclaimed and gave me a chaste kiss as she disappeared from my bedroom.

Work had been pretty chaotic so far. There was a car accident at the high school, a student was driving too fast, and slid on the slick, wet pavement, and slammed into a girl's truck. Luckily one of their classmates had fast enough reflexes to knock the young girl out of the way.

But both of those students, plus the driver were being checked up on, and it seemed like the entire school was in the waiting room waiting to hear the news.

But there was finally a break from the chaos and I was able to take a lunch. I was going to take my Bella out to eat, we had plenty of time, and there was a small diner down the street.

"You asked to see me, Dr. Cullen?" Bella asked, peeking her head through the door, winking at me. I stood up from my desk, and walked over to her, pulling her into my office, wrapping her in my arms and placing a kiss on her lips.

"Want to go out for a quick lunch?" I asked her, placing kisses along her neck, I heard her breathing hitch as I kissed the soft patch of skin behind her ear.

"Keep that up and we won't be going anywhere." she breathed; I chuckled and forced myself to pull away from her. She winked at me "So where are you taking me to lunch, Doctor?" she asked sliding her tiny hand in my own larger one.

"There is a diner down the street, nothing fancy, but they make the best food ever, their Berry Cobbler is to die for" I led her down the hall, towards the parking lot.

"Well then, I'll just have to try it now won't I?" she smiled, squeezing my hand lightly as we walked through the exit doors.

**James POV**

What a little fucking Bitch. I knew she went into that hospital. I left her on the corner for a fucking reason.

I threw my beer bottle out the window, and laughed when I made the car heading towards it swerve and laughed even louder when the driver gave me the finger.

I laughed loudly, letting out a loud burp.

I fucking hated the fact that I had to take the time on my motherfucking day off to track down my dumbass fiancé and child.

It had been nearly two months since I had left her on the corner.

I don't know why she thought she could get away from me. She never had before.

I had been with her way too fucking long for her to get away this easily.

When she lived in Phoenix with her mother was the first time I laid eyes on her. Even as a child she was gorgeous. A little fucking clumsy. But I knew I had to make her mine, so I watched her, all the time. I found out where she lived, and I would watch her sleep at night, watch her spend time with her mother, and her friends. I would sit outside her school, and watch her interact with the other students.

It took me all the fucking resolve I had not to kick any of those puny little pubescent boys asses who approached her.

It took me a long time to figure out a plan on how to make her mine.

But do not underestimate me.

I figured it out, and it was by far the biggest fucking idea I ever had, and it took time, and there was absolutely no room for error.

But I did it.

And it was going perfectly, until now.

Stupid fucking bitch.

Marie Swan was going to pay for this.

She's going to wish I had killed her.

Maybe I fucking will.

I slammed the beat up old truck that Charlie had given her into the nearest empty spot, and slammed the door loudly as I got out. Marie would have been upset if she saw the way I was treating her beloved truck.

"Treat it nicely" she would say "It needs Tender Love and Care"

Fuck TLC dude.

I stormed through the doors of the hospital, pissed that I had to come in, but the douche bag Doctor that I talked to wouldn't give me any kind of information over the phone. I bypassed the help desk, the food court, and the gift shop, and headed straight for the elevators to the E.R floor.

I plastered the sweetest smile on my face when the doors opened and I made my way up to the main desk.

"Hi," I said sweetly, flashing my teeth at the woman typing on the computer. She was cute. Long red, wavy hair, hazel eyes, petite frame. Her nametag read 'Victoria.' "Well isn't Victoria a very pretty name." I smiled at her, she ducked her head and blushed, reminding me of Marie instantly.

"How can I help you cutie?" she asked, flipping her long hair over her shoulder, leaning forward slightly, sticking out her chest.

"I was actually looking for a patient here, by the name of Marie, I was wondering if you could check your records, and patient rooms." I asked sweetly, reaching across the counter and brushing a stray piece of hair that had fallen in front of her eyes, out of the way.

"What will I get out of it?" she asked, smiling coyly at me.

"Well, how about we go out to lunch, on my way here I saw a little diner right down the street." I offered, figuring I could get more than a fucking steak out of this deal.

"Alright, just give me a second to look up your girl, what's the last name?" she asked, turning back towards the computer, pulling up a new screen.

"Swan." I replied, giving another secretary who just walked behind the desk a once over, she giggled softly as she took the open seat, sorting through files.

"I'm back from lunch Victoria, thanks for covering." she said, not looking away from me.

"Alright, good, because me and this handsome gentleman are about to go out to eat. I'm sorry there are no Marie Swan's in the directory, there's Brittany, Kevin, Bella, and Sammy Swan, though." she told me, rattling off the names.

Bella. That little bitch. Using her middle name.

"Can you tell me if Bella Swan is still here?" I asked curiously, Victoria nodded, smiling at me, and typing something quickly.

"Nope." she popped the 'p' "she checked out about two months ago."

I internally groaned. I was going to fucking find her if it's the last thing I did. She was not going to get away that easily.

"I'll be back in an hour, Steph." Victoria said to the other girl, Stephanie, as she rounded the corner of the desk, standing next to me "So what exactly is your name?" she asked me, as we began walking out of the hospital.

"James." I smiled at her, trying to make it seem like I was focusing on her, when in reality I had about a million fucking different things running through my brain. I was going to find Marie, or as she was going by now, Bella, if it was the last thing I did.

She was going to regret this.

**BPOV**

The diner Edward brought me to was really cute. It was small, and quaint. It made me think of home for some reason, the food was amazing; it tasted like something my mom would have made me, which in turn just made me happy.

"I'm excited to try this berry cobbler that you speak so highly of." I giggled reaching across the table and grabbing Edward's hand.

We had already eaten lunch, and were now waiting for our desert. Everything was perfect. Being with Edward was perfect. I had never been so happy in my life, I felt like a completely different person. It was okay, because I liked the person that I was becoming, not the scared little girl that I once was.

The waitress came back with our Berry Cobbler, and it looked absolutely scrumptious.

I heard the door open behind me, and my first instinct was to look to see who was coming in, but I decided that I would much rather be focusing on this beautiful man eating Berry Cobbler in front of me.

"My favorite!" Edward exclaimed, reminding me much of Alice and Emmett. I smiled as I took a bite of it, savoring the sweetness.

It was in that moment that everything completely changed.

EPOV

The Berry Cobbler was still as amazing as I remembered, but for some reason, today, sharing it with my beautiful Bella, it was sweeter than ever.

I watched as she took a bite, and seemed to be enjoying it. But suddenly, her gaze shifted from me, to the far corner of the room, and her whole disposition changed.

Her shoulders tense. She nearly dropped her silver wear. Her face went ghostly pale, and her eyes were worry stricken.

"Bella?" I asked, concerned, I turned to see what she was looking at, and the only thing that really stood out to me was in the back corner of the restaurant Victoria, one of the part time secretaries, who I had thought Bella got along with, was sitting facing us, with some guy, who didn't look familiar to me, but his back was facing us, so that wasn't helping me much.

I turned back to Bella, who was still frozen, and I was starting to panic myself, she had made so much progress, and the last thing I wanted, or she needed was to regress back to panic stricken, and bogged down with worry.

"Edward, can we please leave? I promise I'll explain, I just need to get out of here, please." she pleaded, her eyes were glossy, as if she was about to cry.

I would do anything that girl asked me. I threw some money down on the table, and stood up, helping her up, and leading her out to my car. It was hidden behind a hideous red truck. I heard Bella's breathing hitch, and I hurried her along and helped her into my Volvo.

As I rounded to the driver's side, I sent one more venomous look at that ugly travesty parked next to my beautiful car and quickly got in.

"Bella?" I asked cautiously. She was hunched forward in the seat, her head between her legs, and her body was shaking violently.

"Can you take me home, Edward?" She asked, her voice shaky

"Sure love, let me call the hospital and tell them that neither of us will be back." I rested my hand on her back, and began rubbing small comforting circles, the shaking ceased, which made me feel a little bit better. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket, and quickly dialed the familiar number of the hospital. I leaned back in the seat, and watched out the window as Mystery Man and Victoria walked out to the horrendous red beast parked next to us.

I rolled my eyes; I should have guessed that belonged to them.

The Mystery Man, looked at me, and smirked, but it wasn't a nice smirk, it was dirty, and sketchy, something about him made me uneasy. I immediately felt a growl rise in my chest, but I silenced it for Bella's behalf, I was trying to calm her, not upset her more.

As I spoke to my father, and then the boss, I watched as they pulled away. I continued rubbing Bella's back.

"Alright Bella, I'm taking you home." I told her, as I started the Volvo, and drove quickly, and illegally back to the apartment.

When we got there, Alice was waiting for us, I sighed, Alice and her feelings.

I helped Bella out of the car, and wrapped my arm around her waist, leading her to the house; she still hadn't said anything, which was making me nervous. Her body was still slightly trembling. I wanted to make her feel better; I wanted to know what happened, what Victoria had to do with it. I had never really known Victoria, she tried to get me to go out with her on many previous occasions, but I never did. She got herself around with a lot of the male staff. That drama was something I was not interested in one bit.

"Bella!" Alice gasped when we reached the porch, she wrapped her tiny arms around Bella's trembling body, and held her close, I quickly unlocked the door and we led her inside to the couch in the living room, me on one side of her, Alice on the other.

"What happened, love?" I asked, brushing the hair from her face, trying to remain calm.

"I thought…" she started "I thought I saw him." she said softly, looking down.

"Saw who sweetie?" Alice asked, even though I'm pretty sure she knew who Bella was referencing to.

"James." she said, the venom in her voice was clear as day.

"Where? At the Diner?" I asked, wondering if Victoria's Mystery Man was James. This would explain her reaction to the truck.

"Wait, you thought you saw him? Or you really saw him?" Alice asked, I shot her a pointed look and she frowned at me, "it's a huge difference, because if she thought she saw him, he clearly could have been a look alike, but if it really was him than he's getting dangerously close to finding her." Alice pointed out.

"It wasn't him." Bella said quickly. This worried me. I didn't believe her.

"Are you sure?" I asked her, still rubbing her back.

She nodded "He just looked like him, I freaked out about nothing, I promise, I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry" Both Alice and I said in unison, causing Bella to smile, which made me relax, a lot.

"I promise you that you have nothing to worry about, even if I'm not here, Emmett and Rosalie are right next door, and Jasper and Alice are on the next street over, they won't let anything happen to you, I promise." I informed her, pulling her into my chest, resting my chin on her head, rubbing her back comfortingly.

"I know." she said softly, I sighed, kissing the top of her head, looking at Alice. Who had the same worried look that I did.

We didn't believe that the man we saw wasn't James.

He had to have been.

That meant that I would have to talk to Emmett, Jasper, my father, and hospital security to make sure that someone was keeping an eye on Bella at all times.

I would let nothing happen to her. If it was the last thing I did.


	14. Chapter 14

-14-

BPOV

I saw James.

I knew it was him.

He was driving my truck.

I am so lucky he didn't see me, especially with Edward. He would have caused a huge, scene and probably would have hurt Edward. I felt myself shudder at the thought.

I liked my life here, with Edward, and his family, and the hospital. I liked the safe little bubble I was living in.

I bit my lip as I tapped my foot on the carpet. I was in the waiting room in Dr. Embry's office, waiting for my appointment, I definitely needed to talk to someone, and I knew he wouldn't, couldn't, say anything to any of the Cullen's.

I had a feeling my bubble was about to burst.

I was scared for my life. There had been a few other times I tried to run from James, and he made me pay, because he had always found me. But never had I ever actually escaped, if he found me now I knew that he would do something more drastic than ever before.

Edward was at work, he had told me to stay home today, since yesterday I had pretty much had a panic attack, and then he called Jasper to schedule an appointment with Dr. Embry today.

I was grateful that he let me stay home, James was way too close. If he had come to the hospital just thirty minutes earlier, he would have seen me at the gift shop, and it could have gotten really bad.

I was just going to have to go back to constantly looking over my shoulder, and double checking everywhere I was going, and not leaving a trace of where I was. He wouldn't find me.

I would make sure of it.

"Bella." Dr. Embry greeted warmly as he opened his office door. He was a nice looking man, about Jasper's age, russet skin, and cropped jet black hair. He had caring brown eyes, and an easiness about him that really made me feel comfortable enough to open up to him.

"Hi Dr. Embry." I forced a smile and followed him into his office. His office was spacious, one entire wall was windows that faced a beautiful garden. He had two couches, an oak desk which is where he usually sat, and two comfortable chairs. I usually sat on the couch directly across from his desk, it was easier to have a conversation facing him.

"So, tell me, what brings you here today?" he asked, leaning back in his chair, looking genuinely concerned.

I gulped, and retold the events from the diner the previous day. The entire time he nodded, and leaned forward, jotting down notes.

"Bella, I'm concerned." He stated truthfully. "You need to tell Edward the truth, and the two of you need to contact the police, it's only a matter of time until he tracks you down."

I bit my lip, knowing that he was right, but I was scared, James was the police.

"But James is the police." I repeated out loud, tracing the designs on the couch with my fingers.

"Bella, there are hospital records of abuse, it doesn't matter who he is, there's evidence against him." He informed me, he was stern, but comforting at the same time.

I began to feel panicked again, trying to take deep breaths.

"Bella, just like we've practiced, focus on one spot in the room, take slow, deep breaths." He coached me, like he had many times before, helping me come out of the panic.

"Thank you." I breathed, once I felt normal.

"Please consider going to the police Bella." He said, concerned.

I nodded, and by the end of the session he had me feeling a little better, but I still was unsure of what to do.

About an hour after I had gotten home from my appointment, I decided to go over to Emmett and Rosalie's to see if either of them were home, I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts anymore. I slowly made my way over to their side of the house and knocked on the door. I was standing there, maybe thirty seconds before the door wildly flung open to reveal Emmett, standing in a pair of basketball shorts and black undershirt.

"Bella!" he grinned wildly at me "Coming over to the dark side?" he winked, stepping aside to let me in.

"Something like that." I giggled as we walked into his living room, where he had a video game paused. "What are you up to?"

"Grand Theft Auto." he said simply, flopping on the couch, resuming his game. I plopped down next to him on the other end of the couch, stretching out, resting my feet across his knees.

We stayed like that for a while, him effortlessly beating the game, and me watching him, and laughing at the vulgar language he screamed at the game, as if it could hear him. Emmett was exactly what I needed to get out of my own head.

"Oh man I love this game." he said as he paused it, leaning back and stretching his arms over his head, letting a loud yawn escape his lips.

"You are pretty good at it," I pointed out "Hey, no work today?" I asked curiously.

"I own the company, kiddo, I can come and go as I please." he winked, rustling my hair playfully.

"Touché."

"So, do you have any brothers or sisters?" He asked me, leaning back against the arm of the couch. I know Emmett knew about my past from James, and over the few months I had been here, we had spent a lot of time together, aside from Edward, he was probably the person I spent the most time with, but he still knew very little about me.

"Nope. It was just me growing up." I smiled "I always wanted an older brother and maybe a sister too" I told him, shrugging.

"Well, it's a good thing you wanted that, because me and Alice have un-officially adopted you." he winked at me, grinning wildly, I cocked my head to the side looking at him and smiled. "Well, I don't know Bells," he shrugged "You just fit, so it only seemed right. And you definitely need an older brother to keep an eye on you, to protect you, and toughen you up." He chuckled loudly "And Alice seems to think you need a shopping partner all the time. So like I said, you fit."

I sat up and launched myself across the couch at him, wrapping my arms as far as I could around his large muscular body. He laughed again, wrapping his strong arms around me.

"Now, stop being sappy, I need to finish this game!" he said once I let him out of my death grip.

We stayed like that for a little while longer, and I finally decided what I had to do. Just in case.

"Emmett, can I talk to you for a second?" I asked, biting my lip nervously. I wasn't sure how he was going to react to this.

"What's up?" he asked, pausing the game, shifting so that he was facing me.

"I haven't been completely honest with everyone…" I trailed off, looking down, not being able to bring myself to look at him.

"Okay." he said making it sound more like a question than a statement.

"Well. My name isn't Bella. It's Marie. Isabella is my middle name. I didn't want to lie to everyone, I just, at the time I didn't want James to find me. I had my way out, and I knew I had to take it. I didn't expect to stay with anyone, or make such good friends." I did my bes to explain, trying my hardest not to cry.

"Hey." Emmett said sternly "Look at me." I took a deep breath, and looked up at him, to see that he wasn't mad, more worried. "Listen, I completely understand why you did that. Everyone else will too. But you do have one thing wrong."

I looked at him questioningly.

"Your name is Bella. Bella Elizabeth Masen to be correct." he winked at me, pulling me into another rib crushing hug. "Everything is going to be okay Bella."

"I also need to tell you where I used to live, just in case, James is getting really close Emmett, and I don't know what he's going to do. We live in Forks, about an hour south of here, In a two story white house on Denali Street." I rambled, I was really worried James was going to find me.

"Bella. Stop it. I don't want to hear anymore" Emmett demanded, now he was angry. I pulled away from the hug and looked at him curiously.

"Nothing is going to happen to you. We won't allow it. Alright?" he looked at me, grabbing my shoulders tightly. "Do you understand what I'm saying to you?" he asked again. I nodded, letting the tears fall from my eyes.

For the first time in my entire life, I felt safe.

I sighed; staying at home alone was so boring. It was Thursday, My third day not going to work. Three days after I broke down to Emmett. I tried to go back to work, but Edward insisted that for the remainder of the week I stay home.

It was annoying.

I had already cleaned the house from top to bottom, three times, and that was just today. I also took a walk to the corner grocery store and picked up more food than necessary. I was going to end up fat.

All I had been doing was munching on food, and watching daytime television. Not exactly my number one choice activity. But I understood Edward just wanted to protect me.

I heard the door click open, and glanced at the clock on the cable box underneath the TV and crinkled my face. It was only three thirty; Edward wouldn't be home for at least another two hours.

"Hello? Bella?" Jaspers familiar calming voice echoed through the halls.

"In the living room Jas!" I called, sitting up farther on the couch, making room for him. I smiled widely at him as he rounded the corner and took a seat on the opposite end of the couch. "So what do I owe the pleasure?" I giggled as he sent me a wink.

"Just dropping by to make sure everything is alright, The last few times I've seen you, you've been radiating scared, and timid, and it's been worrying not only me, but Alice, and you know Alice." he laughed, I had never really noticed before, but he had a thick southern accent, Rosalie had one as well, but most definitely not as thick as her brothers.

"Well, I'm glad you decided to come by, it's pretty boring around here." I feigned disgust, causing him to chuckle lightly at me.

"Well I had a break in between patients, so I decided to take a trip over." he grinned at me.

"Well, that was nice of you, thanks Jas." I smiled up at him.

"How are you holding up?" he asked curiously "I don't mean to pry or anything, Edward and I have talked, and I've talked a little with Dr. Embry. You've been through so much, I just wanted to tell you how strong you are, you are a warrior." he stated, looking at me as if he could feel the pain I had been suffering my entire life.

"Thank you, honestly." I said softly, "The truth is, I never really thought of the pain, I just, kept living my life, and trying to get through each day the best I could," I bit my bottom lip "to be honest, the first time I have ever let myself grieve over anything, or anyone was when I lost my baby." I sighed, trying not to remember the pain that alone had caused me. "I've never had anyone to really talk to about things, ya know? My mom and I used to talk, but that was before anything bad had happened, and then when I moved in with my dad, we didn't really talk about my mom at all, he was always in love with her, after all, it was she who had left him, so he was hurting almost as badly as I was, so we just, didn't bring up that subject ever. Then when my dad died, the only person I really had to talk to was James, and he never listened."

"Bella, if you ever need to talk, you can call me at any time, although from what I've been hearing, Dr. Embry has been a tremendous help to you." He reached across the sofa and took my hand in his, holding it reassuringly.

"Jasper, thank you, for all that you've done, as well as Dr. Embry." I said softly, trying not to cry again, it had been an emotional week.

"Bella. I am proud of you. You are a wonderful woman who deserves nothing but happiness, any way that I can help, I'm here." he continued.

"Oh Jas!" I gasped, as the tears burst through my eyes and he pulled me into a comforting hug. It felt nice to have people who cared.

It felt nice to have a family.

After Jasper had left, I took a relaxing bath and changed into my pajamas, I was exhausted, the week had been emotionally exhausting. But I did felt extremely happy that I had been able to connect with both Emmett and Jasper on a deeper level, it meant a lot to me that they cared about me.

I planned on staying in bed the entire day tomorrow while Edward was at work.

It was about eight o'clock and I was just finishing up dinner, lasagna, hoping Edward would like it.

"Honey! I'm home!" his velvety voice bounced off the walls as he opened the front door. I had to use all the remaining energy I had not to jump up and down in excitement; this is what this man did to me. "It smells amazing." he said, sniffing the air as he walked into the kitchen.

I turned to him and smiled, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck, inhaling his scent.

"Mmmm." he moaned softly, kissing me passionately on the lips. We broke apart and I grinned, watching him run his fingers through his already messy hair.

I loved this time of the day. When he came home from work, and was just happy to see me, and spend time with me. It was always so perfect.

"Can you grab some plates for me Edward?" I asked as I bent down to take the pan out of the oven. I felt him stand behind me and place his hands on my hips. I embraced the chills that reverberated through me.

"Anything for you, love." he moved away, my body felt cold and incomplete whenever he stopped touching me.

I served us dinner and we decided to eat on the back porch since it wasn't rainy out, for the first night in as long as I could remember.

"I like when you come home." I told him absentmindedly as we ate, watching two squirrels playing together in the backyard.

"I do too." he grinned at me, leaning across the small table and giving me a quick peck on the lips "I hate being away from you." he admitted, taking another bite of the food.

"Ditto." I said simply, enjoying the moment.

"So, I have some... not so good news." he said, sighing as he set his now empty plate down. I looked up at him, worried.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, as I set my plate on top of his, and walked over to his chair, sitting on his lap, nuzzling my face in the crook of his neck.

"Everything is okay." he chuckled lightly, tracing circles along my forearm. "I just have a medical conference this weekend, my father and I are leaving tomorrow morning, and will be back sometime early Sunday afternoon. I tried to get out of it, I swear, but we signed up for it so long ago, it's locked in." he sighed, I stifled a giggle.

"It's okay Edward. Go. Enjoy the time with your father, have a good time. I was thinking of cooking dinner and inviting your family over anyways. I will have Alice call Esme, I would love to finally meet her," I told him placing a kisses on his cheek. He pulled my body closer into his chest.

"You are amazing." he said softly, almost melodically against my hair. I could feel his chest vibrate as he spoke. We sat there like that, me curled in his lap for what seemed like hours, but at the same time it wasn't long enough.

Suddenly, the door to Emmett and Rosalie's back porch slammed open and shut, causing me to jump, and Edward to chuckle at my silliness.

"Howdy NEIGHBORS!" Emmett yelled as he walked over to us, and plopped down in my previous free seat.

"Hey." we responded in unison. They must have had the same idea as we had, because Rose walked over a moment later with two plates, and took a seat on Emmett's lap. How they managed to eat comfortably like that was beyond me.

"So guys, while Carlisle and I are gone for the medical convention this weekend, Bella is going to have a big dinner for you guys, and Esme." Edward informed them, proudly, wrapping his arms tightly around me.

"Oh I can't wait to eat more of Bella's food!" Emmett exclaimed happily as he was shoveling his own dinner in his mouth, Rosalie scowled.

"Maybe you could come over and help me prepare Rose?" I asked her, her scowl changed into a smile and she happily agreed.

"I don't know if that is such a good idea Bella, my Rosie is not the best cook..." he trailed off, trying to hide his enormous grin.

"Hey!" Rose exclaimed, slapping him in the back of his head. Edward and I laughed. But I stopped immediately at the hurt expression on Emmett's face.

"Well baby, you know I don't mind! Mac and Cheese is good enough for me!" he defended himself shoveling a huge spoonful of macaroni into his mouth for effect.

We sat outside together until the sun completely set and it started raining. It was nice, we easily bantered back and forth like four old friends.

Life was good.


	15. Chapter 15

Thank you guys for all of the feedback! You are all amazing, amazing humans!

AN: Everything Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer

* * *

-15-

EPOV

Leaving Bella wasn't something I was particularly looking forward to. Not in the least bit. But I had to go, there was no way I could get out of it.

I sighed, as I searched through my closet for some clothes to pack for the weekend.

"Are you alright?" Bella asked from my bed, she was curled up in the blankets, aimlessly flipping through the television stations. She didn't seem interested though, seeing as how every time I looked over at her, she was watching me.

"Yeah. I just don't feel comfortable with leaving you here, especially with what happened at the beginning of the week." I sighed, it was the truth.

I made my way back to the bed, where my suitcase sat, almost full. I quickly folded the clothes in my hand and zipped up the suitcase, bringing it next to my door, laying my coat on top of it, so I wouldn't forget.

"Come here." she said, biting her bottom lip. I loved when she did that, it was so sexy. I nodded, crossing the room in two strides, I would do anything she wanted me to.

I climbed into the bed, and hovered over her, I straddled her, putting the majority of my weight on my knees on the bed, and wrapping my arms around her neck, resting my forehead to hers.

"I promise you, I will be okay. You are only going away for the weekend; I'll make sure I'm extra safe. I'll call Emmett or Jasper if I go anywhere for protection." she said, placing a soft kiss on my lips. I sighed, removing one of my arms from around her, and running my fingers through my hair. That wasn't good enough. As much as I trusted my brothers, they couldn't protect Bella like I could.

"Hey" she said softly, taking my hand from my hair and intertwining her fingers with mine.

"I'm sorry, I just, if anything happens to-"

"Stop that" she cut me off, but was still sweet about it. Only Bella could manage something like that. "Nothing's going to happen. I'm going to be here all weekend, you know I'm safe here." she said sternly, squeezing my hand tightly.

I sighed and groaned in defeat as I rolled off of her, onto my back next to her on the bed.

"I still don't like leaving you here." I said flatly.

"Well. There's really no other option." she pointed out, still holding tightly to my hand.

"You could come with me." I said, turning to my side, facing her.

"Edward," she rolled her eyes at me "I do not find sitting in a room full of Doctors, talking about things I know nothing about, a good time. Plus you need this time with your dad. Stop being ridiculous, I'll be fine." she insisted.

"Alright. Alright." I sighed, wrapping me arm around her waist, pulling her into my chest.

"Thank you!" she said exasperated. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"You are something else love." I smirked, kissing her temple.

"I like when you call me that." she said quietly, snuggling into me.

"I like calling you that." I wrapped my arms tighter around her.

This was perfect. I didn't know how I was going to manage falling asleep without Bella for two long nights. I couldn't believe how much of an affect this girl had on me, we had only known each other for a few months, and I already couldn't picture my life without her.

We drifted off to sleep holding on to each other. I couldn't imagine a better way to fall asleep.

The next morning came too soon. I groaned opening my eyes, searching for Bella. But my bed was empty aside from me. The aroma of eggs, and bacon, and French toast, and coffee suddenly permeated my nose, and I immediately relaxed.

I stretched my limbs out, cracking my back before I slowly got out of bed. I took a quick shower, and dressed comfortably for the two hour drive I had ahead of me. Grabbing my suitcase and jacket I trudged down the stairs. I walked into the kitchen quietly, and stopped, leaning against the doorframe, smiling at the scene in front of me. Bella and Carlisle sat at my breakfast bar, eating breakfast. Well Carlisle was eating, and Bella was laughing loudly. Her head was thrown back, and her shoulders trembled with each laugh. For that moment she looked completely free, like she didn't carry the weight of her troubled past on her shoulders.

It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

"Morning." I said cheerfully, taking my normal seat, where there was a plate of food waiting for me.

"Morning sleepyhead!" Bella said cheerfully, smiling widely at me. I leaned across the table and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and started eating.

"What were you two laughing about?" I asked curiously, looking back and forth between them.

"Oh, nothing." Carlisle said, sending a wink to Bella, who was trying to silence the fact that her laughter was building back up.

"Lies," I shook my head "I should have known you two would hit it off from the start." I rolled my eyes at them, but truth was, I was extremely happy that they were getting along, even if it was at my expense, which I can bet you all the money in my name that it was.

"Oh stop being silly," Bella rolled her eyes playfully "Carlisle here, was just telling me about that time you thought you could fly." she grinned.

"Ugh. And I jumped off the picnic table."

"And landed on your face, right on the concrete." Carlisle chuckled "That was a nightmare, you were screaming, your mother was crying, Emmett was yelling at you because you forgot your cape, he insisted that if you had a cape you would have flown much better." he chuckled louder, shaking his head at the memory.

"God, don't remind me." I sighed, a smile breaking on my lips.

"Don't be embarrassed Edward. Kids do silly, stupid things." Carlisle chuckled, taking a sip of his orange juice.

"He's right." Bella agreed quickly.

"Why don't you tell us something you did as a kid?" I smiled, turning to face Bella.

"I did a lot of stupid things." she giggled, her eyes glazing over, remembering.

"Well, tell us one." I prodded, I wanted, no needed, to know everything about this girl.

"Alright," she sighed, giving in. "When I was younger, I had these two friends that lived down the street from me. There was this huge house on the corner of the street for sale, for a while, not many people were interested in it, because there was a lot of work that needed to be done to it. Well, the three of us somehow got into the house, so we would wear gloves, so no one could get our fingerprints, ya know. We made up a little spy kit for each of us, and we would go researching through the house, hoping to find something, anything, we never did though." She shook her head, laughing lightly "I fell down both flights of stairs one day, and ended up breaking my leg, we had to explain to our parents what exactly we were doing, and got into a lot of trouble. Leave it to my lack of grace to get us caught." she laughed again.

"Bella." I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but chuckle, Carlisle was laughing lightly as well.

We finished up breakfast and talking, the mood remained light and enjoyable.

"Well, Bella, thank you so much for the wonderful breakfast, and the entertainment. It was really nice to finally meet you, I am sorry that it's taken so long, I hope that when we get back we will be able to get more acquainted." Carlisle stood as he spoke, and gave Bella a quick hug, and nodded at me "I'll be outside Edward, I'll grab your bags." he patted me on the shoulder as he walked by, we watched quietly as he grabbed my jacket and suitcase and disappeared down the hall.

"I don't want to leave you." I said, frowning as we both stood up and I pulled her into a tight hug.

"Edward." she soothed, I could feel her body shake with laughter, she looked up at me with a bright, beautiful smile that almost knocked me to my knees. "You're not going to war. You'll be back in two days. I'm still going to be here. We can talk on the phone. You can text me if you're too bored at the conference. Stop being so melodramatic." she kissed me on the chin.

I sighed, wrapping my arms around her, underneath her butt, and pulling her up to my chest. She wrapped her legs around my torso tightly and kissed me on the lips.

"Bella" I sighed as we pulled away, she rested her face in the crook of my neck, and I held her tightly. "I have to go." I said, setting her back on her feet carefully.

"Have fun silly boy." she smiled at me. I gave her another quick kiss and walked out the door.

When we finally arrived at the conference, I nearly jumped for joy. I knew two hours wasn't the longest time to be in the car, but I hated it none the less. Carlisle and I fell into an easy conversation mode about how things at the hospital have been, how Bella has been, how we both were worried about James, and the best way to go about the situation.

I had been able to corner Victoria on Tuesday when I went into work and asked her to tell me everything that she knew about him. She couldn't really help me much, she told me that all she knew was that his name is James, and that he was looking for a Marie Swan, and that when no records came up for a Marie, he asked for Bella.

I put it in the back of my mind to speak to Bella about the Marie situation, because if I had known about that sooner, when I got the phone call from the irate man, who I had now realized was James, I could have put a stop to him coming here beforehand.

I had reported Victoria to my supervisor, explaining that not only had she violated the Patient Confidentiality rule, but Bella's life was now in danger because of Victoria's "little" slip up as she had called it. My supervisor fired her, which made me feel a little bit better. But what was done, was done. James knew that Bella is here, and I had a feeling he wasn't going to leave so easily. I made a mental note to talk to Bella about the two of us going to the police before anything got out of hand. It should have been done a lot sooner, but I hadn't wanted to push, or to ruin the progress she had been making in therapy.

I sighed in comfort when we got into the hotel room we were sharing, and I laid down on the bed. It was so nice to finally be able to be out of the car.

"I'm going to go check us in, Our first conference is in an hour, so take a nap, or do whatever you need to do so that you're not grumpy." Carlisle sent me a look as he set his bag down on his bed, and disappeared from the room.

I pulled out my phone, and the first person I called was Emmett.

"Hello?" he asked, sounding like he had his mouth full of something.

"Hey Emmett, what's up?" I asked into the phone, I heard him sigh dramatically.

"Listen man, you've only been gone two hours, I haven't got the chance to go check on Bella yet but she's fine. I haven't heard anything out of the ordinary okay? Please take a chill pill." he rambled, his voice getting more animated by the word.

"Emmett, stop, I know that, calm down," I said quickly "I didn't call to yell at you, I just wanted to remind you to pay close attention, alright? And if you-"

"If I hear anything out of the ordinary I will drop whatever I am doing, and go check on her, and call you." he cut me off, finishing my sentence, repeating it back to me dramatically. "You need to see if any of those doctors will prescribe you some Xanax or something."

"Very funny Emmett." I sighed, saying goodbye and hanging up, laying back against the pillows.

I reopened my phone and dialed Bella's number. On the third ring, I began to panic.

"Hello?" she answered, breathing heavy, sounding like she had just run a marathon.

"Bella, what's wrong? Is everything okay?" I asked, worried.

"Edward." her laughter flowed through the phone, causing me to relax "You are absolutely ridiculous, you know that, right?" she asked through her laughter.

"I know." I sighed, chuckling myself.

"You just left like, three hours ago, I'm perfectly okay." I could tell she was smiling, even if she thought I was being ridiculous.

"I know, love, I'm just worried" I told her.

"Well, you have no reason to be worried, I promise you, I'm okay"

"I know." I laughed, relaxing my body into the bed, feeling ten times better now that I was hearing her voice.

"How was the drive?" she asked

"Not so bad, just two hours, but I dislike sitting in cars for any more than a half hour or so." I explained, she giggled on the other end "But my dad and I definitely got a chance to catch up."

"See, you needed it," she said reassuringly "Now, stop being so worried"

"I know, I know." I relented, letting her know that she was right.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked.

"My Dad's checking us in right now, and I'm supposed to be taking a nap before the first conference in a little under an hour now, but I'd much rather be talking to you." I explained.

"Edward, take a nap." she instructed, sounding more like a mother than a twenty five year old.

"I'm not 3 years old, mother," I joked "But, I do need to rest for a little bit so I can focus on everything." I sighed, not really wanting to get off of the phone with her yet, hearing her voice, hearing that she was okay, was enough to make me feel better, I knew as soon as we hung up, I would be extremely worried.

"Go rest, and enjoy your trip." she giggled

"Alright, love, call me if you need anything or even if you don't." I said, really not wanting to hang up.

"Goodbye Edward, see you in two days." she giggled and hung up the phone.

I shut my phone and set it on the bedside table next to me. I had become utterly infatuated with this girl. I couldn't even believe myself. In all my life I had never fallen so fast for a female, ever. The only females I even had close to the amount of feelings I had for Bella right now are my sister, and my mother, and they aren't even the same type of feelings, because, well, that would be disgusting.

But I had never felt such a need to protect someone, not since I was younger and thought that I could save my mother from dying. I always somewhat blamed myself for her death, that's why I worked so hard on getting into med school as quick as possible, I thought the sooner I learned to be a doctor, and learned to help save people, that I could save her.

I knew that if anything happened to Bella, I would never, ever be able to forgive myself.

So Bella, Emmett and the rest of my family may think I am being absolutely crazy, and ridiculous. But I knew that I wasn't, and I didn't care. I would do anything and everything in my power to protect her, for the entirety of our lives.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN:** Hey y'all, again - thank you sooo much for all the feedback! I love you guys!

&amp; I've been getting a lot of questions about how come Bella didn't get to hold the baby, why haven't they gone to the police, etc. I wrote this when I was really young, &amp; I also do not have kids, &amp; have never had a crazy psycho abusive boyfriend.. so I really don't know all of the logistics about how all of that goes.. I tried to do my best, and do my research and make it believable, so just bare with me lol. I tried my best!

**Dislaimer:** Steph Meyer owns all things Twilight.

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**-16-**

**BPOV**

Edward had only been gone for about six hours. And he had checked in at least nineteen times.

I'm sure if I was a normal girl, who had normal problems, I would be absolutely annoyed, seeing as how I couldn't get anything done.

But, I wasn't a normal girl, and I clearly didn't have normal problems. So the fact that Edward cared enough to check in as much as he was made me fall for him even more.

I had come to the conclusion that I had fallen hard for Edward Cullen. It terrified and excited me at the same time.

I sighed, looking at the clock. Rosalie should be over any minute now. I had decided to do the dinner tonight; I had called everyone, including Esme who seemed even more excited than Alice to come over, which made me happy.

I thought making Spaghetti and meatballs, Greek salad, and garlic bread was a safe bet that everyone would enjoy, and something easy enough for Rosalie to make.

I stood up and made my way to the kitchen, starting to get out all the things we would need to cook. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't nervous about Rosalie coming over. I had made connections with the rest of the family fairly easily, Emmett and Alice had seemed to accept me into the family the first time I had spent any time with them. Jasper was welcoming in his own, quiet way, he never made me feel pressured, or embarrassed. Even though I had just met Carlisle this morning, he and I had gotten along instantly, falling into easy conversation, joking back and forth. Although I had yet to meet Esme, by the way we interacted on the phone, I had no worries.

Unfortunately, Rosalie had been a completely different story. She hadn't necessarily been rude to me, but she hadn't been exactly friendly either. We just didn't really talk. She intimidated me, a lot.

"Bella?" I heard her call as the front door opened; her heels echoed through the hall as she walked in.

"In the kitchen Rose!" I called back, taking a deep breath, trying to work my courage up.

She walked in and sent me a small smile. "So what are we making?" she asked, peering over my shoulder at the things scattered on the counter.

"Spaghetti and meatballs, with Greek salad, and garlic bread, I figure everyone will like it, and it's pretty simple to make." I shrugged, offering her a small smile.

She nodded, and we got to work. We worked in awkward silence for a while, you could cut the tension with a spoon, and it finally got a point where I just couldn't handle it anymore.

"Bella – "

"Rosalie "We started at the same time. We looked at each other and awkwardly laughed.

"Go ahead." she nodded at me, not looking up from the spaghetti sauce she was mixing.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I did anything to make you not like me..." I trailed off, I really had no clue what to say to make her like me. She may just be one of the people in this world that don't like me, you can't win everything.

"Bella, I wanted to apologize for how I have been acting towards you. It's just that because of the money Edward has, a lot of girls try to date him just to get things out of him ya know? So when I met you, before I knew the whole situation. I just assumed that's what you were like, and it was wrong of me to assume, so I'm sorry." she said, in her eyes she looked sincere.

"Rose it's okay, you don't have to apologize." I told her, even though I was glad that she at least explained to me what she didn't like about me.

"No, let me finish explaining" she said holding up her hand to silence me. I nodded, shutting my mouth. "I didn't realize it until Emmett told me about what happened with your baby, but we have a lot more in common than I originally thought."

"What?" I asked her, feeling like she had just knocked all of the wind out of me, I had purposely not thought about my baby because it still hurt me to the core. I wasn't sure what she was saying.

"Before I met Emmett, Edward, or Alice, back when it was just me and Jasper, I was engaged. His name was Laurent, and we had dated since freshman year of high school. When we graduated, we decided we would get married. Everyone figured we would, we loved each other, and it seemed like the right thing to do." She smiled sadly. "Well, about two months before the wedding I told him that we should stop having sex until our wedding night so that it would be more romantic, and be really great sex." She chuckled a little. "He wasn't exactly happy with it, but he agreed to it, mostly because he wanted to make me happy." I smiled at her, not exactly sure what was coming.

"So he was out, about a week before the wedding, at his bachelor party with some friends, who I really never liked they were always bad influences on him. But I'm not one to stop the person I'm with from seeing their friends, plus it was his bachelor party, so whatever." she shrugged, I held my smile in lack of knowing what else to do. "Well. He and the two friends that I really didn't like, decided to show up at my house that night, drunk, and stupid. My parents were out for the night, and Jasper was in his room, down the hall. I let them in, and Laurent was just being a jerk, and his friends were egging him on." she shuddered, her eyes glazed over as she looked at me, seeing right through me into the past.

My smile instantly faded, I didn't like where this story was going.

"He kept pushing me to have sex with him, and I kept telling him no, especially since his two friends were there, Jasper was right down the hall, and because he was completely wasted. I just didn't feel comfortable." She bit her lip and looked down, wiping the tears that had fallen from her face. "Well, he didn't like that I was refusing. So he got his two friends to hold me down, and cover my mouth, and he started ripping my clothes off of me, ripping them, destroying them." She paused, her face looking pained, I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to hide my shock

"And then he raped me. While his two friends watched, and laughed." Her body was trembling now, and her voice shaky. "He had never been like that Bella," she insisted "He was always sweet, caring, kind, and he would have died for me, I swear it!" she pressed, trying to convince herself more than me.

"Oh Rose!" I sobbed, I was unaware of my own tears until she put a hand up to my face.

"After he got what he wanted, they left, I curled into a ball, naked, and sobbing. Jasper must have heard me crying because he came out and saw me, and immediately put two and two together. He had never liked Laurent. He was so mad that he didn't come out sooner to save me. But he brought me to the hospital, and stayed by my side the entire time. My parents never let me press charges, since we had sex before, he was my fiancé, and because his friends would obviously lie for him, it was a losing battle. So I called off the wedding, and my parents never talked about it again."

I gasped, both of us were crying, hard, I couldn't believe what had happened to her, and the fact that her own parents wouldn't even help her. I was grateful that she had Jasper, and had also found the Cullen's.

"That's why Jasper became a therapist you know?" she asked, "he couldn't bear to see me go through it, so he vowed to himself, and to me that he would help as many people as he could. He's always blamed himself, from the second he realized what happened." she shook her head sadly, looking down.

"Did you end up pregnant?" I asked looking up at her. She nodded.

"I found out I was pregnant about a month afterwards, Jasper and I argued about what I should do, he thought I should have an abortion because I was raped, because every time I looked at the baby I would be reminded of what happened. But I couldn't do that Bella, I couldn't." she sighed, wiping her face again "So I decided I would be the best mother I could, and not hold it against my innocent child."

"What happened?" I asked, biting my lip, worried for the answer.

"Miscarriage." she whispered, and that was enough for the two of us to break down into each other's arms.

"Oh Rose" I said into her neck "I'm so sorry." she hugged me tightly.

"Me too." she replied, and we cried in each other's arms for a while, I lost track of how long it was.

"Woahh!" a third voice said, we both jumped to see Emmett standing there, looking between the two of us with an extremely worried look on his face "are my girls okay?" he asked walking over and wrapping an arm around each of us, causing us a well needed laugh.

"We're great." Rosalie replied giving him a quick kiss. "We just have to finish dinner." she smiled at me, and we continued making dinner, the three of us falling into an easy chatter. Which I was extremely grateful for.

I felt so honored that Rose trusted me enough to tell me what had happened to her. It made me look at her in a totally different light, and it explained why she didn't like me at first. I felt like I had definitely connected with her on a deeper level than I could ever connect with the rest of them, and I was glad that we put our differences behind us. I really liked Rose.

Dinner was finished just as everyone else arrived. I finally got to meet Esme who was wonderful, I could see why Carlisle loved her so much.

As we ate dinner and talked, I was genuinely happy. I looked around the table at everyone and smiled, these people had become more than friends, they had somehow become my family, they cared about my wellbeing, and they wanted to be around me, and spend time with me. I had never felt so much love before in my life, and I truly, honestly enjoyed it. It was the best feeling in the world. The Cullen's had saved my life, each and every one of them in their own way, I knew I could never repay them, but I would be the best person I could be to them, I would make sure of it.

As everyone left, I promised that when Carlisle and Edward returned that we would do it again. Rosalie and Jasper were the last two out the door, and I promised Jasper that I would continue to schedule appointments with Dr. Embry, which made him happy, and Rose and I hugged each other tightly, promising to get coffee this weekend.

About an hour or so later, once I showered and changed into my pajamas, I was climbing into the comfort of Edward's bed, since I couldn't sleep next to him, I would sleep in his bed, it was the closest I could get, and would gladly take it.

I pulled out my phone, and flipped it open, dialing his familiar number. He picked up on the first ring, I bit back laughter.

"Hello." he said softly.

"Hi." I replied, smiling at the sound of his voice.

"Hi love, how was dinner?" he asked.

"Oh Edward, it went really well, Esme is amazing, and your family is just, amazing, I'm so glad that I can be part of it." I sighed, smiling happily.

"They all love you even Rosalie, despite how she acts."

"Actually, when she came over to help cook we had a long talk, and actually figured out that we have a lot more in common that you would think." I told him, and heard him chuckle lightly.

"Well I'm glad."

"Enough about me, how are the conferences going?" I asked, selfishly wishing he was next to me instead of on the phone.

He groaned playfully, and chuckled as he spoke "just great!"

"They can't be that bad, can they?" I asked, truthfully I had no clue what went on during medical conferences, I had never been to one, so maybe they were that bad.

"Eh, it's just a lot of Doctor mumbo jumbo." he said, I could picture him shrugging his shoulders.

"Ahh. I see." I giggled.

"I miss you Bella" he said softly.

"I miss you too, Edward" I admitted, I felt like I was back in high school talking to my crush in hushed voices so our parents wouldn't hear us and make us go to bed.

"I wish I was lying with you, in my bed, instead of on the phone with you in this stiff hotel bed." he sighed.

"Me too." I sighed in agreement.

"Well, it's getting late love, as much as I'd love to stay up and talk to you all night, I have conferences all day tomorrow. I'll try to call you as much as I can but it's pretty much back to back all day."

"It's alright Edward, try to enjoy your day, don't worry about me, and call me when you can, alright?"

"Alright love, sweet dreams."

"You too Edward." I said in nearly a whisper and clicked my phone shut. I smiled in the darkness, and let myself drift asleep, thinking of my new life, my amazing new set of friends, and great guy who I was falling for more and more as the time passed.

I had almost forgotten what I had left behind.


	17. Chapter 17

AN; Thank you all for the love as usual - you're the best!

Disclaimer; S.M owns all things Twilightttt

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-17-

**BPOV**

I awoke the next morning feeling content, I didn't wake up to an alarm, or being screamed at, or dragged out of bed by my hair. It was a great feeling. I stretched my arms out above my head, and my legs as far as I could, and inhaled deeply. The bed smelled of Edward, it made me smile.

I heard my phone message tone go off, and I reached over to the bedside table grabbing it.

I smiled like a schoolgirl when I saw it was a text from Edward.

_I hope you slept in beautiful, we've already been in our first conference for two hours. – E_

I quickly typed out my reply, laughing at how ridiculous I was when it came to him.

_I did sleep in, the bed was lonely without you. –B_

My phone went off almost as soon as I hit send, the conference must have been extra boring this morning.

_One more night and we'll be back in bed together._

I couldn't help but blush at that message. We hadn't had sex yet, we were taking it slow, but I would be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it. Of course I had thought about sex with Edward! But I was grateful he was willing to be patient and take things day by day.

_Can't wait!_

I finished typing the message and sent it quickly, deciding that I should get up and do something.

I slowly got out of bed, making sure to make it nicely, smoothing out any wrinkles. I would make sure to clean the entire house, and make dinner before Edward got home tomorrow. I couldn't wait to see him.

After I showered and changed for the day, I decided to stop by the hospital, pick up my paycheck, and run a few errands. I wanted to go grocery shopping to pick up a few things, and then I needed to get a couple outfits for work, I was repeating the same few outfits, and every time Alice saw me I thought she was going to have an aneurism.

I grabbed the keys that Edward left me to his volvo and headed out to the driveway, nearly colliding with Emmett who was coming through the front door as I went to run out.

"Whoa!" he said, steadying me. I had run right into him, nearly knocking myself on the ground. "Where are you off to in such a hurry short stuff?" he quirked an eyebrow.

"I wanted to run a few errands, pick up my check, grocery shopping, that sort of thing." I explained in between chuckles.

Emmett cocked his head to the side, "I feel like I should probably come with you." He said, I could tell he was debating on what he should do in his head.

"You don't have to, I'll be gone no more than an hour tops, I swear." I told him, of course I was worried James was around, but I had to start being independent, I couldn't keep relying on them to save me.

"Are you sure?" he asked, he didn't seem like he was fully convinced he should let me go alone.

"Positive Emmett, how about I call you at each destination, whenever I'm going in, and walking out?" I suggested, "If I don't call, you'll know where I was last, and can track me down if you need to."

He eyed me, he was considering it. "I won't need to track you down though, right?"

"Of course not! I got this!" I grabbed his arm and gave it a squeeze as I snuck past him and made my way to the Volvo.

"One hour Bella, I'm expecting an absurd amount of check in's!" he called from the porch.

I laughed and waved at him as I drove off.

This was the first time I had really done anything on my own since I began this new life. I was very anxious about it, but Dr. Embry and I had been working on my anxiety and my independence, I could hear his strong voice in my head as I navigated the streets.

"_Bella, you are a strong, independent woman. You have survived tragedies that would destroy the majority of others. You can rebuild your life, you can make your life better than it ever was. You are destined for greatness. We will rebuild, and I will be by your side every step of the way."_

"_You will not let your anxiety, or your past ruin your now, you will not let it taint your future. Remember your breathing, deep, slow breaths, you are the master of your life. You are, no one else. You have the strength to conquer anything."_

I replayed his words over and over throughout my errands. They definitely helped. There were a few times where I felt anxious and paranoid. There were more times than I could count where I looked over my shoulder three, four, five times. But I was able to do it.

Between Dr. Embry's words, and checking in with Emmet frequently, I was able to run my errands smoothly. I felt almost normal.

"How was your day beautiful?" Edward's silky voice flowed through the phone, the rest of my day dragged on, I put away the groceries, and the clothes. I spent some time over at Emmett and Rosalie's, and then I read a little bit. But as I climbed into bed that night, I realized I had been looking forward to talking to Edward since we had hung up the night before. He had texted me throughout the day, checking in, and sending sweet texts.

"It was good, I got a few things done, and I spent some time with Rose and your brother." I answered, snuggling deeper into the blankets and pillows. "How was your day?"

"It was long, I'm exhausted, but we're checking out in the morning and I'll be home before you know it." I could hear his smile through the phone, which made me smile.

"I can't wait."

"me either, I feel like it's been forever." He whined.

"Did you really just whine?" I laughed, I couldn't contain it.

"I did, I stuck out my bottom lip too." He joked back, joining in on my laughter.

"You are too much Edward Cullen."

"I love your laugh, it's beautiful." He said more serious. "You do not know how happy it makes me to hear you laugh. You should always be laughing."

"Edward, you are so sweet." I could feel the blush rising into my cheeks.

"I try." He chuckled, and yawned loudly.

"Go to sleep." I ordered, a little sad to be hanging up so soon, but I knew he was tired.

"I'll see you tomorrow, love." He said, his voice sleepy.

"Goodnight." I replied softly, and hung up my phone, once again, falling asleep happy and content with the way my life had been going.

Suddenly a loud crash jolted me from my sleep and I sat up, confused and looked at the clock on the bedside table next to me, the red glowing numbers read 3:47am.

"What the fuck is going on?" I groaned, out loud, slowly getting up out of bed, and quietly crept to the door, listening for any kind of movement.

When I heard nothing I opened the door, and turned on the hallway light, preparing to go downstairs just to make sure, but stopped dead in my tracks when my past was staring my in the face.


	18. Chapter 18

-18-

My eyes widened, and I'm sure my face went ghostly white. If my fear wasn't holding me up, I'm sure the shock alone would have knocked me to my knees. I knew it was inevitable that he would find me; I just didn't realize it would be at home, where I was supposed to be safe.

"James." I managed to choke out, my voice trembled. He stood there, looking the same as the last day I saw him. His short cropped blonde hair stood straight on his head, his piercing blue eyes radiated with anger as he sneered at me, sending chills down my spine.

I knew I should punch him and run at least try to have some self-preservation, but I was paralyzed with fear.

"Marie." he said coolly, but I knew better, he was seething with anger and I could smell the alcohol on his breath. He wasn't going to leave without me. "Or should I say Bella." He chuckled, but it was an evil laugh, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

"James," I said quickly, pleading "please-"

"Ya know, this hospital doesn't make it hard to get a patients information." he rolled his eyes, and laughed wickedly, knocking the lamp that stood in the corner onto the floor with a loud crash, pieces shattered everywhere, it was dark as night now.

"James, please leave, please." I begged, he was blocking the stairs, there was nowhere I could run to, jumping out of a second floor window would only add more pain, and he would just get to me eventually, and the fact that I couldn't see would just make the entire situation worse.

I didn't see any way out of this. I felt my body tighten in panic, and my breathing began to shorten. I was trying my hardest to use the techniques I had been learning in therapy, but I couldn't get my mind or body to cooperate.

"Fuck you bitch, It took me years to make you mine, if you think you are fucking leaving me this easily, you have got to be out of your fucking mind." I heard movement, and some more loud crashes, and James curse under his breath, but he quickly grabbed my wrist tightly, and yanked me towards his chest.

"James!" I yelled angrily, punching his chest, trying to push him away.

He slapped me hard across the mouth; I could taste blood, which was making me dizzy. I straightened myself; I had to keep as much strength as possible. "You are going to shut the fuck up and come with me. If you don't do as I say I will make this worse for you." He said angrily, squeezing my upper arms so tight I could already feel the bruises forming. "If you give me any fucking trouble, I happen to know your little friends live right next door, and are sleeping soundly, so I guess at least they will go peacefully in their sleep." he smirked evilly at me. "That's a better way than you're going to go. I can guarantee you that much."

"Leave them alone!" I demanded, I didn't want Edward or any of his family getting hurt in this, because of me, because of my past.

"I will when you stop trying to put up a fight and do as I fucking say." He said sternly, even in the dark I could see him smiling smugly at me.

I slumped my shoulders in defeat, took one last look around at the life I lived for a very short amount of time, and followed him down the stairs, since it was dark, we bumped into and knocked over so many of Edward's beautiful things. I made a mental note that if for some reason James kept me alive, I would send Edward a check to replace as much as I could with what little money I had.

"Say goodbye." he sneered at me, as he yanked me through the front door and into my red truck, which under any other circumstances, I would be thrilled to be in again.

I watched the house as we drove away from it, and turned my face away from James. If he saw that I was crying, this would only end up worse for me.

I had a feeling this wasn't going to end well anyways.

EmPOV

"Rose, baby, I'm going to go check on Bella, and maybe she's making breakfast!" I told her, giving her a quick peck on the cheek and making my way down the stairs, as much as I wanted to stay curled up on the couch with Rose, I knew my brother would flip his shit if I didn't go check in like I had promised him I would.

I didn't know what the girls were crying about when I walked in yesterday, I mean, I had a pretty good idea, but whatever it was had made them closer, and I definitely saw a change in Rose towards Bella. I was so fucking glad for that, since she's probably going to be around for a while, and the rest of us really liked her.

As I rounded the corner to go onto their porch, my heart dropped into my stomach at what I saw; the front door was wide open. I knew Bella wouldn't just have the front door open, and if she left she would have at least sent me a text.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, just in case, but there were no messages, like I had thought. I shoved it back into my pocket and frowned. I took a deep breath and jogged up the stairs. "Bella?" I called, trying to ignore the fact that I didn't smell fucking delicious food coming from the kitchen.

I pulled out my phone as I walked deeper into the house, there was shit everywhere, and broken, it definitely looked like it was broken into. I jogged up the stairs to make sure she wasn't there, and almost broke my neck on the lamp that was lying across the top of the stairs.

I can't believe I didn't hear this; it couldn't have been quiet with all this shit everywhere, why didn't I wake up? Why didn't I hear this?

I was worried for Bella. I was worried for what Edward was going to do when he finds out. I was worried for whoever was near Edward when he finds out.

But I was mostly worried for that motherfucker when we find him and Bella.

I was really worried for Bella.

I opened my phone and dialed the familiar numbers.

**APOV**

"Jazz, please can we just go over there, I have a bad feeling." I begged my husband to go over Bella and my brother's place. I had been begging him since we woke up this morning. I couldn't explain it; I just had a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew something was wrong.

"Honey, Bella's fine, she's going to be fine, all of you guys are being way too over protective, she's going to get mad, that's the worst that is going to happen." he rubbed my back to reassure me.

I wasn't convinced.

Suddenly, the obnoxious ring tone that my brother set for himself rang loudly from my pocket. I pulled out my phone and answered it quickly.

"Emmett, is everything okay?" I skipped straight to the chase.

"Bella's gone." He answered simply.

"What do you mean she's gone?" I asked, sending a pointed look at Jasper, whose face went ghostly white.

"Like, the door was wide open, and shit is broken everywhere, all her stuff is still here Alice, this isn't good." his voice was panicked. I looked at Jasper, scared, and for the first time in a long time, he looked just as scared as I was.

"Did you call Edward?" I asked, knowing that he most likely didn't. Whoever told Edward was going to be in a lot of trouble. Which was completely understandable, but I knew Emmett didn't want to be that person.

"No, Alice, I already feel like it's my fault, he's going to be so upset." I nodded, even though he clearly couldn't see what I was doing. I took a deep breath, trying to sort my thoughts out, trying to think of things we can do before we call Edward so that none of us felt completely powerless over this situation.

Although either way Edward was going to be pissed.

"Listen Emmett, Call the police, tell them everything you know, Jasper and I are on our way over, I'll call Edward on the way." I told him, shutting my phone before he could even respond.

I opened my phone and dialed Edward's number as we quickly ran out to my Porsche.

**EPOV**

It had been a long, boring, uneventful day. I had sent Bella a few texts, but had got nothing back, I was trying not to worry, but I couldn't help it.

As we walked out of the elevator into the hotel lobby to check out, I opened my phone to call her, but before I could start dialing, Alice's face popped up on the screen, I clicked the answer button and put it up to my ear.

"Hey Alice, what's up?" I asked curiously, she usually didn't call me when I was away on business, so that just added onto my worry.

"Edward." she said softly, immediately I stopped walking and was all ears. Something was wrong. I knew by the tone of her voice.

"Alice, what's going on? Is everything okay? Is Bella okay?" I asked, frantic, trying my best to keep my voice down.

"Edward, please calm down, we're doing everything we can to find her, we-" 

"To find her?" I snapped trying to get my bearings, and comprehend what she was telling me "Why would you have to find her?"

"Emmett went to check on her this morning, and the door was wide opened, and there was broken stuff everywhere, her stuff is still there... just… not her."

"He and Rosalie didn't hear anything?!" I yelled into the receiver, ignoring the dirty looks from the people around me, at this point I didn't give a fuck; I was going home, to find her.

"Edward, please, calm down, We called the police, we're waiting for them now, Emmett and Rose feel so bad, please, we know how bad this situation is, we're doing everything we can." she pleaded with me, and I knew it wasn't her fault, or Emmett's fault.

It was mine. I should have never left. If I were with her, she would have been safe.

"I'm coming home. Tell the cops everything you know!" I slammed the phone shut and ran as fast as I could to the desk where my dad was checking out.

"Edward, what's wrong son?" he asked, looking panicked.

"Bella's missing, that slime ball found her, I have to go home, I have to find her." I was talking fast, pacing. This was all a waste of time, the more time we wasted, the farther she got with him, and the less chance we had of saving her.

"Let's go." Carlisle said, not even finishing checking out as we grabbed our bags and ran to the car.

I didn't even care. I had to save her. I couldn't lose her.

BPOV

The drive back to Forks was longer than necessary, probably because I was stuck with James. I was sitting as far away from him as I possibly could, me and the door had molded into one at this point. He didn't say much the way home, he just drank, and blared his music, locking me in the truck whenever we stopped. I tried to get out of the truck and run more than once, but he always came out of whatever store he was in just in time to catch me. Which earned me a backhand to the face each time, and one time when he was particularly angry, a punch in the eye.

My face hurt, badly. It was swollen, and bruised; my right eye was swollen shut.

As we pulled up to the house I grew up in, it was a bittersweet feeling. I had once loved this house, I loved the simplicity of it, the fact that the kitchen cabinets were painted bright colors, and that the chairs to the kitchen table were mismatching. I loved that when I woke up in the morning a huge oak tree greeted me every day, I loved that Jacob used to climb into my window some nights, just to be silly. But now, as James grabbed my forearm and ripped me through the front door, seeing how it was wall to wall destroyed, with empty beer bottles, half eaten food, dirty dishes, reeking of smoke, and clothes thrown everywhere, my heart broke.

"James, what do you want from me? Please, it's clear that you don't love me." I dropped my head in defeat as he roughly handcuffed me to the railing of the stairs, he was mumbling something under his breath about me never getting away again, and he would make sure of it.

"Shut the fuck up, I have loved you for longer than you even know you little bitch, how dare you?" he demanded, spitting into my face "No one would even want you now, you murdered our little fucking baby, what man wants that?" he accused, the pain roaring through my chest as he reminded me.

"James!" I yelled angrily. In return, he kicked me in the stomach, literally knocking the wind out of me, causing me to fly backwards onto the stairs. Pain ripped through my body as not only the pain in my stomach was enough to make me puke, the handcuffs were cutting into my wrists because he had put them on too tightly, and now my back wrenched in pain from hitting the stairs so hard.

"You think that Doctor actually cares for you?" he sneered, laughing "You were just a piece of ass to him, and since you're a slut, you gave it up to him so he got what he wanted and won't even bother looking for you," he rolled his eyes at me "and now, you're dirty, I can't even enjoy sex with you anymore, because you're a little slut and let some random guy inside you. I hope you enjoyed it you skank." He threw his beer bottle at me, just missing my head, I could feel the wind as it flew passed me and hit the wall behind me shattering into pieces all over the stairs. He growled and walked into the kitchen, leaving me alone, for the first time since he had come into my life, and ruined it for the second time.

As much as I had fallen in love Edward and wanted him to come save me like a knight in shining armor, I didn't want him to see this, to see the life I had lived before him. I didn't want him to get hurt, James would hurt him, I was sure of it.

I was grateful for never giving him any information about myself. But almost as soon as I felt relief for that, my heart almost ripped out of my chest when I remembered I had told Emmett exactly where I lived with James. A huge part of me hoped that he forgot, because I didn't want any of them risking their lives for me. But the rest of me, that little part, really, really hoped he remembered, and that they could save me.

I curled myself into as much of a ball as I could and rested my head on my knees. Maybe this is the life I deserved to live? Maybe I had been someone horrible in my past life, that hurt innocent children, or puppies, and this was my karmic payback.

There had to be some sort of reason for this, right? Some reason why the bad things in my life continued to happen. First my mom, then my dad, then James, then my baby, and now James coming and ruining my life again.

I had to have been Hitler in my past life. It was the only way anything made sense.

I closed my eyes tightly, trying to hold back the tears, knowing all too well if James found me crying he would just make things worse for me.

Even though I wasn't sure how much worse things could actually get.

I suddenly found myself wishing I had just let Edward and Jasper go to the police like they had been begging me to do. Maybe I wouldn't have been in this position if I had just listened.


	19. Chapter 19

**A.N;** Thank you all for all the feedback - per usual! You guys know how to make a gal smile! .. I probably should have given a warning for the last chapter, James is not nice &amp; doesn't shy away from physically harming poor Bells... That continues in this chapter.

**Disclaimer;** Steph Meyer owns all things Twilight.

* * *

-19-

**EPOV**

"Think, Please!" I practically begged my family as I paced my living room where we were all sitting as the cops searched through my house looking for clues. Carlisle and I had raced home, breaking many laws, making it home in record forty-five minutes.

We had all told the cops everything we knew about Bella, but she had never told us really anything specific about her life, not to mention she had never gone to the police about James before, so they had very little to go on.

I continued pacing the room looking at my family, who all had worry stricken looks on their faces. Alice was crying, curled into Jasper's side, who looked pale as a ghost. Emmett and Rosalie sat huddled on the couch, neither of them speaking. Esme and Carlisle sat next to each other, looking at all of us with pained expressions on their faces.

The last time I could remember all of us being this upset at the same time was when our mother had died.

I wasn't about to put them through it again.

"Did she tell you guys anything that could help us figure out where he took her?" I asked again, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Ohh!" Alice exclaimed, jumping up, nearly screaming. "I just remembered she said she was from Forks!"

"Okay, that definitely narrows the search down a lot, chances are James took her back there, to their home." Carlisle observed, nodding, flagging down one of the officers to inform them of Alice's new information.

"I've been to Forks before" Jasper said quietly "for a meeting, it's pretty small, I bet if we go there, and spread out, we could definitely find her, or someone who knows where to find her." he pointed out.

"That's a good idea Jazz" I told him, nodding.

I looked back and forth between my siblings, and stopped at Emmett who looked like he was trying to remember something.

"Emmett?" I asked, curiously, tilting my head to the side.

"I'm trying to remember, I know she told me what her house looked like, I'm trying to remember." he repeated, he looked so dejected, I tried hard not to blame him, but I was worried, and hurting.

"I just- When she told me I didn't want to hear it, I promised her that she would be safe with us." he put his head in his hands, and Rosalie rubbed his back reassuringly.

We were all taking this hard, I didn't realize how much Bella had meant to all of us, not just me. All of the more reason to bring her back.

"Maybe if we go to Forks, and you see a house, or her truck or something, things will start to fall into place" Alice said, nodding, standing up pulling Jasper with her.

"We will stay here, with the police, just in case." Carlisle said, pulling Esme closer into his side.

"Please be safe" Esme said softly, hugging each of us tightly, with tears in her eyes "But bring Bella back home."

I kissed her cheek, "We will Esme."

Before we walked out, we spoke with a few of the officers who would be meeting us in Forks, they did not want to alert the police department there because they didn't want to tip off James in any way, we were under strict instruction to wait until they arrived before we did anything.

We didn't have time to wait for them.

"Do we need a plan?" Emmett asked as we walked to the driveway.

"Everyone have their cell phones on, once we make it to town, we will split up. Rose, and Alice, do not go alone, go with each other or with your husbands, I'm not going to have to worry about you two as well." They nodded and we all jumped into our cars, with Alice in the lead, we followed her quickly to Forks.

We made it in record time.

The town of Forks, was extremely small, I parked my car at the local Library and decided to walk through town, looking for anything, or anyone that could help me.

I was going to find her. There was no way I was leaving this town without her.

**BPOV**

"Clean this fucking house!" James snarled, unlocking me from the stairs.

I stood up and rubbed my wrists, there were red gashes around both wrists from the cuffs being too tight, and they hurt badly. My legs were sore and wobbly from not having walked or stood up, my entire body ached.

"Okay." I replied softly, nodding at him, walking towards the closet that held all of the cleaning supplies. I hated being so submissive, but he was scaring me, he had never been this bad or this angry before.

He grabbed my arm tightly; pulling me into his chest. I winced, trying not to make a bigger deal than necessary.

"You have one hour, then I have work and you are being locked up again, seeing as how I can't fucking trust you." his breath was rancid, smelling like beer and tobacco.

I nodded and went to work, trying hard to ignore the pain my entire body was in, and the fact that I could only really see out of one eye.

I wanted him to kill me.

I didn't want to go through this pain anymore.

Edward and his family weren't going to find me.

I couldn't bank on them.

It wasn't fair to them, or to myself.

As I cleaned the house, I tried to think of ways to piss James off enough to kill me.

I had no idea what to do that was going to piss him off enough.

As he was cuffing me back to the stairs, and I watched him walk out of the house, locking the door behind him. I knew what I had to do.

The next time he let me go to clean, or cook dinner, or whatever task he would want of me next. I would try to escape.

Clearly I wouldn't be able to. He was faster than me, by a lot. He would stop me, and beat me and if it weren't enough to kill me, I would keep trying to escape. Eventually, it would piss him off enough to kill me.

I would be with my mom, and my dad. Away from this pain and misery.

For the first time since James had come back into my life. I smiled.

APOV

It had been hours since we had arrived in Forks, and let me tell you, it was one dreary little town. I don't know why anyone would actually choose to live here, let alone why Bella would. She was meant for so much more than a small town like this could ever give her.

"I feel like we've just been going in circles." Rosalie sighed as we sat on an empty bench in front of the library, where we had all parked our cars.

"I know Rose, I don't know what to do anymore." I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration, a move I had picked up from Edward.

"It's starting to get dark. I know that we're losing time if we don't look for her, but I don't feel comfortable with any of us walking around a town with a crazy psycho in the dark." she said, leaning her back on the building.

"I think maybe, we should get a hotel room, get some dinner, and sleep, there's nothing we're going to be able to do right now." I sighed, shaking my head.

"Do you have any kind of feeling about how things are going to turn out?" Rose asked, looking at me curiously.

The entire family knew about my hunches, and knew that I was usually pretty accurate.

"Nothing Rose. I can't tell if this is going to turn out good, or bad, and that scares me a little bit." I admitted, knowing she wouldn't tell the boys.

"We should call them, get them to come back here, and try to convince them that we need some rest." She said, pulling out her phone.

I nodded, agreeing with her, knowing we weren't going to get much more done today, and pulled out my phone as well.

"Why did you want us to meet you here?" Edward asked, once the three boys walked up to our bench about twenty minutes after we had called them.

"Listen, it's getting dark, we're not going to find anything in the dark, and walking around an unfamiliar town is probably not the best idea." Rosalie started, we knew this wasn't going to be easy to convince them to stop looking.

"We can't stop looking!" Emmett practically yelled, his arms flailing in the air. He was really taking this hard since he was right next door when James had taken her.

"We have to keep looking. We have to." Edward said, pacing again. That's all he'd been doing since he got back home, is pacing, and it was beginning to make me insane.

"Guys, I think the girls have a point, we can't just wander around at night, I'm sure we're already causing a buzz around town, so I'm pretty sure James, being a cop and all, knows we are here looking for her. So if he sees us walking around at night, it's not going to make our situation easier, for Bella either" Jasper said rationally, always the sensible one my husband, I couldn't help but smile at his reasoning.

"No, I can't stop, I won't" Edward said stubbornly, running his hands through his mess of a hair.

"Edward, we need to get some rest. And some food, Emmett is practically famished." I pointed out, trying to ease the tension "We need to figure out a new game plan, because obviously the one we are using now isn't working. We'll wake up first thing tomorrow morning and get an early start... Alright?" I asked, trying to convince him.

"Plus, if we bring too much attention to ourselves it will make things worse for Bella." Jasper added, I thanked my lucky stars to have such a supportive man by my side.

The four of us watched him carefully, watching the different emotions, and decisions play out on his face.

"Fine," he sighed in defeat. "But absolutely no messing around, we get food, get a hotel room, decide how we are going to find her. Go to bed, and as soon as the sun comes up tomorrow we are setting out to look for her. We aren't stopping until we find her." he said, and we all agreed and hopped in our cars to find the nearest hotel.

**BPOV**

Sleeping on the stairs was completely miserable. I don't think I slept at all.

I hadn't eaten, since I made dinner for Edward's family. I hadn't had anything to drink since then either. I hadn't even used the bathroom since before I went to sleep, James had unchained me to let me use it, but he made me keep the door open.

I felt myself begin to shake as I hear his footsteps approaching. "Well, Well, Well," James said as he walked into the living room, standing about arm's length away from me.

I felt my entire body tense up, I was already in so much pain, and I was scared for what he was going to do to me. I opened my mouth to say something, but shut it quickly when I realized that there was nothing I could say.

"It seems your little group of friends have come into town, and are looking for you." he grinned wickedly at me.

My eyes widened as I looked at him. I couldn't believe they actually came looking! That they remembered where I was from. I tried not to show him the shimmer of hope that I suddenly felt course through my body.

"You little bitch." he seethed, slapping me hard across the face, I winced in pain. "You told them where we lived, you knew I would find you." he took a step closer to me, and grabbed my chin tight, my eyes widened in pain, as his face was only inches from mine. His once beautiful blue eyes, were clouded with anger and evil.

"I didn't tell them, I swear," I whispered, trying hard not to cry, and ignore the pain he was putting me in.

"I don't believe you." He said, not letting go of my face. "If I come across them my dear, I will fucking kill them, all of them," he breathed, I tried not to gag from his rancid breath "Just like I killed Renee and Charlie." he winked and roughly dropped my face, shoving me into the stairs as he pushed passed me to go get ready for work.

The traitor tears poured down my face as I realized what he had just admitted to me. That he had killed my parents. He had been the one responsible for all of my pain, all of the pain that I had gone through, had been his fault. Everything I had gone through in my life, everyone I had lost, everything that separated me from having a normal life, was all because of him.

My body racked with sobs as I cried, ignoring the pain in my body, the pain in my heart overtook it all.

I couldn't believe that I had once loved a man so evil, and so full of hate.


	20. Chapter 20

-20-

EPOV

We woke up early, just like they had promised me, and I was really glad that my family was here with me, to help me find her. I sat on the corner of one of the beds and ran my fingers through my hair, trying to think of anything Bella told me, any kind of landmark, anything that would lead me to her.

"Hey man." Jasper said taking a seat next to me, I looked up at him and he had concern written all over his face. I nodded, not really wanting to talk to anyone. We were wasting time. But we had gotten one room, and everyone needed to change and brush their teeth, and the girls insisted they needed showers.

"We're going to find her" he said in the same even tone "You have to believe that, because the second you don't, we're not going to/" he said softer, patting my back reassuringly.

"We have to find her Jazz." I sighed, dropping my face into my hands.

"I have a feeling," Alice said as she perched herself against the desk in the corner of the room, both Jasper and I looked up at her, waiting for what exactly her feeling was going to be "That we are going to find her." She stated, I felt the weight lift off my shoulders slightly, but I didn't want to bank on one of Alice's feelings, and she could have been saying that just to take me out of my misery.

"So can we run through the plan real quick before we go?" Emmett asked, emerging from the bathroom, with Rosalie in toe.

"Okay, you four are going to go door to door, asking for Marie Swan, and I'm going to go to the police station and try to find James." I told them quickly, we had already gone over this in detail last night.

The officer in charge of the case back at home had called me, letting me know he had been in contact with James' supervisor, and to "sit tight" Bella would be home soon. He hadn't known that we had taken matters into our own hands, he didn't need to know, and he was wasting too much damn time.

"Do we have a picture of her?" Rosalie asked, I cursed at myself in my mind for not thinking of that earlier.

"Shit." I mumbled out loud, making a mental note that after we found Bella we would take multiple pictures of her, of all of us.

"I Do!" Alice squealed, causing the rest of us to wince at the highness her voice was capable of reaching. She pulled out her phone and clicked through the menu "I took a bunch when we went to the mall a few weeks ago, I'm forwarding to all of you!" A moment later all of our phones either vibrated, or rang out with a new message alert. I flipped open my phone and all the air inside my body disappeared and my heart jumped and broke at the same time seeing Bella's smiling face staring at me. Her brown hair hung loosely around her face, and her head was tilted to the side and she had a broad smile on her face, as if she was about to break out into laughter.

"Okay enough, we're wasting time, a lot of it, go." I demanded, slamming my phone in my pocket, staring at Bella's beautiful face was making me want to find her more, I had to see her again.

We all split up, and I headed towards the police station. If that motherfucker were working, so help me god, I would murder him. I looked around the center of the small town as I made my way towards the station. It was a tiny town; there were only a few buildings that made it the center. The police station, library that also doubled as the town hall, the fire station, and one gas station that also doubled as the town grocery store that was it.

I sighed, and pulled open the heavy door of the police station, as I walked toward the front desk, I noticed a framed picture hanging on the wall next to the American Flag with the name "Chief Charlie Swan" etched in gold underneath it. Bella's father. It made me sad for her. They had the same wavy brown hair, and the same doe eyes, and the same smirk. She looked a lot like him.

"Can I help you sir?" the deputy at the front desk ask as I approached, lost in thought of Bella's father. He had spiky black hair, and dark eyes, a little overweight, but not a horrible looking guy.

"Actually yes, I was looking for James." I replied, trying to sound as professional as I could.

"Hold on a second, let me check if he's in." he nodded towards the row of seats against the wall and walked towards the back. I sighed and walked over, taking a seat in the middle chair. I was really impatient; I didn't want to wait. I wanted to rip James' throat out, and burn him to death. I wanted him to suffer like he made Bella suffer.

I began to bounce my knee up and down, agitated that I had to wait for this asshole. I tried not to think of Bella, and what he could possibly have done to her.

A door slammed loudly from somewhere in the station, and I looked up, hearing voices of multiple officers speaking lowly. Suddenly, the dark haired officer appeared, followed by James, who like I had thought, was the mystery man with Victoria that day at the diner.

"Ah, Dr. Collins is it? What can I do for you?" he asked, grinning at me, walking around the counter.

I stood up and balled my hands into fists, trying to calm myself down before I beat the shit out of him without getting any answers.

"Cullen." I corrected him through gritted teeth. "What did you fucking do with her?" I demanded, squeezing my fists tighter. I was pretty sure my knuckles were white, but I wasn't chancing looking down.

"I don't know what you are talking about Doctor, and if I were you I wouldn't use that sort of language when directed at an officer." He smirked again; I wanted to knock it right off of his guilt stricken face.

"Don't play stupid with me, officer." I sneered, stepping closer to him, we were mere inches apart. "I'm going to ask you again, maybe you didn't hear me. What did you do with Bella?"

"I don't know anyone by the name of Bella." he shot back, winking. The motherfucker winked at me and it sent me over the edge. I pulled my fist back and swung at him, hitting him in the jaw, reeling him backwards a few feet. I pulled my arm back again, ready to swing, but two other officers pulled me off of him, holding both of my arms behind my back.

"Marcus, Cauis, put him in the holding cell!" he barked at the officers, "Assault on an officer, Doctor Cullen," he sneered, holding his jaw "Will not be tolerated in Forks." he smiled at me as the other officers pulled me into the cell, but not before frisking me and taking all of my personal belongings.

"Don't I get a phone call?!" I yelled angrily, this was ridiculous, I was so close to Bella, and I knew it.

"Fuck off." Marcus said, grinning at me, and disappeared from the room.

I was fucked now, and I knew it. My only hope was that my family would find Bella, and someone would somehow figure out where to track me down.

EmPOV

As we went door to door, showing people the picture of Bella, and asking if they had seen her, we were getting nowhere. The closest we had gotten was someone said that she fled town months ago. Well hell-fucking-oh, we already knew that much.

For such a small town no one really knew anything, which made me wonder if they were all just scared of James. I shuddered at that thought, I was worrying more and more about Bella as the time passed. This search seemed to be going nowhere, and I was beginning to worry that we weren't going to find her.

As the four of us rounded the corner to another neighborhood, I glanced up at the street sign, Denali was written out almost perfectly, except the last 'I' was beginning to fade. Suddenly, something clicked, well, not the entire something, but Denali Street sounded familiar. There had to be something here. I know Alice was usually the one who got her 'feelings' but you know when you just have a gut feeling? That's what I had, and I needed to check, because if I didn't, and we couldn't find her, it would be eating me up inside, I knew it.

I looked at my sister, Jasper and Rosalie and decided I needed to do this alone, just in case, I could take this James motherfucker on, but they couldn't, and I wasn't going to risk it.

"Hey guys, I'm going to work my way down this street, go on to the next without me, alright?" they stopped walking and looked at me with confused looks on their faces. "It's a small street, I can handle it on my own, and we'll kill more time this way." I insisted. They nodded; I kissed Rosalie and sent them off.

As I turned onto the street, I glanced back at the three of them and sighed, hoping I was on to something and my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. I walked down the sidewalk, and looked at the houses, to try and see if anything else set something off in my mind. That's when I saw it, a two story white house, with a humongous red Chevy truck in front of it. I remembered Bella telling me about the house, and Edward talking about the truck. This had to have been it.

I jogged up to the house, up the front steps and across the porch to the door. I grabbed the handle and turned. But it was locked. So I did the next best thing.

"Bella!" I called, banging loudly on the door.

Silence.

"BELLA!" I yelled louder, banging and kicking the door. After a minute or so of doing this, I stopped and placed my ear to the door praying to all that was holy she heard all of my clatter.

"In here!" I heard her faint scream. My heart almost flew out of my chest.

"Hold on Sweetie, I'm coming in!" I called loudly, and decided my best bet was to break in the door. I moved to the edge of the porch, and ran full force at the door, throwing my shoulder into it. It dented, but didn't open. So I repeated that, three times, and finally, on the last try the door burst open, and I stumbled through.

"Bella!" I called again, walking through a small, dirty, kitchen, rubbing my shoulder, I would have a nice bruise soon.

"In here!" she yelled, I followed her voice through the doorway, and I couldn't stop my jaw from dropping or my eyes popping out of my head when I saw her.

Bella was standing, well, sort of standing, on the stairs, handcuffed to the railing; her hair was covered in blood, and matted to one side of her head. Her face was swollen and bruised, one of her eyes was swollen shut, she had finger bruises along the side of her face, and her exposed arms and shoulders were bruised and bloody. She looked even skinnier and paler than she originally had been. I had to take a deep breath to not gag at the site of her.

"Bella, oh my god." I crossed the room and wrapped my arms loosely around her, so not to hurt her anymore, and kissed her forehead.

"Emmett!" she was sobbing, her body shaking uncontrollably. "How did you find me? You came looking for me!"

"Of course we did!" I sighed, trying to steady her small, trembling body "The two story white house on Denali Street, remember?" I asked her, winking.

"You remembered." she said softly, as if no one had ever cared about her before in her life.

"Of course I did Bella, stop being ridiculous." I rolled my eyes playfully at her "Stop crying, please, I'm going to get you out of here, okay?"

She nodded; biting her lip "I'm handcuffed." she lifted her arms up as high as she could, and I looked down at her wrists, which were swollen, and bloody, I was worried where the cuffs had cut into her wrists she was infected. Poor Bella.

"Where are the keys Bells?" I asked.

"He has them," she frowned, pausing for a minute, but snapped her head up quickly "There should be an extra set! Upstairs on the dresser in the main bedroom."

"Okay, hang tight and I'll be-"I began

"Emmett!" She screamed loudly, and before I could assess what the hell was going on, I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head, and everything went black.


	21. Chapter 21

**AN;** As always, thanks for the feedback lovebugs! There's this and one final chapter left of this story.. I am overwhelmed by the love I have gotten from this story, it was the first story I ever wrote and completed [I know there are some things that eventually need work]. Thank you for going easy on me and enjoying my writing! x3

**Disclaimer;** Stephanie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

* * *

-** Chapter 21 - **

**BPOV**

"You little lying bitch!" James screamed, slapping me again, kicking my stomach so that I flew back into the stairs, I could feel the glass shards from the beer bottle he had broken dig into my back. I whimpered, looking at Emmett's limp body lying at the foot of the stairs.

"How many more are there?" he demanded, as he uncuffed one of my wrists, and dragged Emmett closer, cuffing his closest arm to the now empty one.

I shrugged, not looking at him. Wrong answer.

He grabbed my chin tightly, squeezing, as he pinned himself against me, pushing all his weight on me, pushing the shards of glass deeper into my body.

"5." I whispered, he pulled himself off of me, kneeing me in the abdomen as he did.

"Would one of those include your beloved Dr. Cullen?" he asked, laughing wildly. "He's in jail. He actually came in and assaulted me, can you believe that?" he asked incredulously, I looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Oh don't worry sweetie, I'm going to save the three of you for last." he laughed again "When I find the other three, I'm going to kill them quickly, they haven't pissed me off too badly. So it will be quick and painless for them. This one" he kicked Emmett in the stomach "I won't be as nice to." he laughed again, throwing his head back "But for you and your lover, that will be the best part. I can't decide if I want to kill you slowly and have him watch you die, or the other way around, and then let you live and continue to have my way with you." he grinned wickedly.

"Please, no." I whispered, looking down, fighting back tears.

"As for now, I have some patrolling to do. I'll be back." he winked and left the room.

I looked over at Emmett, who was still laying facedown and began to nudge him.

"Emmett." I said, nudging his shoulder with my now, free hand. But he didn't wake up. I felt myself break down completely against the stairs, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Uhh" he groaned, as he began to stir, lifting his head up to look at me. He had been out a long time, I was so relieved he had finally woken up. I waited for it to kick in, and suddenly his eyes widened, and he shot up, pulling his cuffed hand, which in turn pulled me so I was almost stuck in between the thick poles on the banister.

"Emmett! We're stuck together!" I told him, as he helped me loosen myself.

"Sorry Bella, what the hell happened?!" he asked, flailing his free arm.

"I tried to warn you, but it was too late, James hit you over the head with his gun." I sighed "you were out for a long time, I couldn't wake you."

"I got pistol whipped and cuffed?" he asked, his eyes widened, I nodded.

"Sorry."

"That would be so hot if this were Rosalie doing this to us." he sighed, shaking his head. I couldn't help but giggle; at least I was stuck with the ever-optimistic Emmett.

"Emmett, he's going to kill Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper, and he arrested Edward!" I told him quickly.

"What?!" he asked, loudly, panic was written all over his face. "We've got to get out of here!"

I sighed, that was clear. "Do you have your cell phone?" I asked him curiously, his face brightened and he nodded.

"Listen, call Alice, tell her to get Edward out of jail, and then they need to leave, we can't let them get hurt, at least if we know they are safe we can focus on getting ourselves out." I explained, not knowing where any of this was coming from. Emmett looked at me skeptically for a moment, but seemed to agree with what I was saying, he nodded.

"I hope you know what you're doing" he said as he pulled out his phone and began dialing quickly.

EPOV

I had no clue how long I had been sitting in this stupid jail cell. But I was practically scaling the walls. I hoped that my siblings had made progress, and found Bella so I didn't need to worry.

I sighed and looked at my knuckles, which were swollen and bloody from hitting James. Even though they were sore, I would definitely do it again. I looked up when I heard footsteps echo down the hall, and sighed when I saw a new officer who I hadn't recognized, which meant I had been stuck in here long enough for shift change. Too fucking long.

"Cullen?" he asked gruffly, he had dirty blonde hair and a goatee, and he looked a little older.

"Yes sir." I stood up and walked towards the door as he began to unlock it.

"You got bail, your belongings are at the front desk," he said simply, sliding the door open and letting me out.

I nodded thanks to him and quickly walked out to the front, grabbing my items in the large Ziploc bag, and I walked out the door. Alice, Jasper, and Rosalie were huddled on the sidewalk in front of the station, in what looked like an extremely worried conversation. Which, in turn, worried me.

The first thing I noticed was no Emmett. The second thing I realized, is that I had no phone call, they had no way of knowing I was in jail.

They had broken apart enough for me to join their group as I approached them. "Where's Emmett? How did you guys know I was here? What's going on?" A asked at rapid speed, feeling a bit like Alice, looking between the three of them, waiting for someone to tell me what was going on.

"Emmett found Bella." Rosalie said quickly, but something seemed off about her facial expression.

"Where are they?" I asked, looking between the three again.

"First tell us how the hell you ended in jail Edward!" Alice demanded angrily.

"For hitting James. Now tell me what's going on!" I demanded back, losing patience.

"Emmett found Bella, but, James knocked him out and now they are both trapped, But James plans on killing us all. Emmett said to go wait at the hotel, and not to leave, or open the door for anyone, even the police. That he and Bella will be able to escape and they'll call us as soon as they do." Alice explained quickly.

"What?!" I asked loudly as I began walking quickly to my car, which was parked at the library.

"I think we should listen to him... I mean-" Jasper began, as the three of them followed closely behind me.

"No!" I demanded angrily "You three go back to the hotel, I'm going to help them." I told them unlocking my doors.

"Edward- I don't think-"

"Stop it. I have to go help them. It's Bella. And Emmett. I'd never forgive myself." I told them, sighing as I pinched the bridge of my nose.

I felt like they should all have known me well enough to know that I wasn't going to go sit in a room and just wait for everything to turn out all right. I have never been one to just sit back and let things happen. And now, when it concerned my family, I was definitely not sitting around and waiting.

"The last street he was on was Denali Street. He said that he recognized the truck." Alice sighed in defeat, knowing I wasn't going to give up.

I went to get into my car, but Rosalie's voice calling my name stopped me, I stopped moving and peered over the hood of my car at her.

"He said not to call him. James doesn't know he has his phone, and Bella is in bad shape, and he's worried for what would happen if his phone were to ring when James was there." Rosalie's eyes were filled with tears and my heart broke for her. She had already been through so much; I didn't want her to hurt anymore.

"I promise, I won't call him. You guys please, go back to the hotel, and do not go anywhere, James is a fucking bastard, and don't put anything past him. Call dad and Esme, and then call the officers that we've been in contact with, okay?" I told them, they all nodded somberly and I climbed in my car, starting the engine.

Normally when the car purred to life I would revel in it for an endless amount of time, it was one of my favorite sounds in the world, but not today, I was on a mission, I had to get Bella and Emmett out safe. I felt a lot better that Emmett had found her, and that she was no longer alone, and that she was okay. But was she okay? Emmett had told them that she was in bad shape, and who knows what exactly that entails.

My heart sank, Bella had come so far, she smiled, laughed, joked, and seemed to enjoy the life she had been living with me, with my family. Which was a complete turnaround from when I had first met her, she was constantly in pain, for she had been through so much. Something like this was most likely going to set her back even farther. I didn't even want to think about any physical or sexual abuse that he had caused her. I swear to god if she weren't in one piece when I got to her I would send James to his grave.

As I plugged Denali street into the built in GPS in my car, I dialed the Seattle Police department and gave them a run down on what was happening, and that it was a fellow officer who was doing all of this. Even though I had told my siblings to make this phone call, I also wanted to speak with the officers as well. They needed to know how serious this was. I didn't want to take any chances when it came to Bella, my brother and their safety. Even though I was taking a pretty big chance as it was by going to find them on my own. I prayed it wouldn't backfire.

BPOV

"Emmett, you are out of your fucking mind!" I said angrily, if I could cross my arms over my chest, I would have.

"Bells, why won't you even try it, please?" he asked, pleading me with his huge eyes.

"Emmett," I repeated sighing, looking at the space between the vertical rails as they went up the staircase. "There's no way I can fit through there." I couldn't believe we were actually having this conversation right now, let alone actually considering this.

I really had no energy, to move from the step I was sitting on, or to speak, or even to breathe. I knew I was getting weaker by the minute, and I was trying hard to keep up my strength, but it wasn't an easy feat. I had never gone more than eight hours without eating, and that wasn't by choice either, Alice had dragged me to the mall, and in her shopping frenzy she had completely forgotten about the fact that we both needed nourishment. I sighed; I would gratefully go shopping with Alice every weekend if Emmett and I could just make it out of here safely. I would never tell her that, but I missed her.

I looked at Emmett and sighed again, hoping that telling everyone to go away was the right idea.

"Bella, please, can we just try it once, please." he pleaded with me, giving me the saddest puppy dogface I had ever seen, I sighed again and nodded reluctantly.

If he thought it was possible, and wanted to try it, I would. "Emmett, I'll try, but you need to listen to me if I say I'm getting stuck, if James comes back and I'm halfway through the fucking rails, I don't even know what he'll do." I shuddered at the thought.

"I promise Bells, just try okay?" he looked hopeful as he moved closer to the railing so that I had a little more leeway.

I sighed and slowly slid my arm through, which was the easy part. Once I got to my shoulder it was a little harder, but I could still manage. Suddenly I became hopeful that I was going to be able to do this, and that we were going to be able to get out of here.

But of course, once I saw the silver lining of this miserable fucking cloud, my body came to a halt.

I frowned and looked at Emmett sadly. He sighed, but gave me a reassuring smile, helping me back so that I could sit on the stairs, I leaned against him, curling into his chest, having no more energy to keep myself upright.

"It's going to be okay Bella, I promise we will get the hell out of here, okay?" he wrapped his free arm loosely around me, kissing my forehead.

"Emmett, I'm so tired" I told him, realizing that I was extremely tired. My eyelids had begun to feel unbearably heavy; I didn't have the energy to keep them open anymore.

"Bella, I need you to stay awake for me babe." he told me shaking my body.

My eyes fluttered open for a second, but things were becoming blurry. I just wanted a nap. That's all.

"Just a little powernap Emmett, I promise, that's it." I told him, trying to get out of his grasp.

"Bella, no." he said loudly, and if I wasn't so concerned with sleeping, I probably would have been scared from the volume of his voice, but I didn't have the energy to be scared.

I tried to look up at him, but everything was blurry, and I was beginning to have tunnel vision. "Emmett." I whined, or tried to whine, I don't even think I was able to get his full name out of my mouth before the blackness closed in around me.

EmPOV

In the short time that I had known Bella, She had passed out twice- that's more than I had ever passed out in my twenty-six years of existence. Here she was laying limp on the stairs, handcuffed to me, and the railing of the stairs. It was not a pretty sight. And the scariest thing about it was that I had been trying for nearly ten minutes to wake her up, and I couldn't.

I knew enough from Edward and my father being Doctors that she was probably dehydrated, and malnourished, and god knows how much blood she had lost.

I had to get us out of here. I began to slam my body against the pole that was keeping me from my freedom. It was a strong motherfucker, but I was stronger. I continued to throw my body into the railing, my body would be bruised, this I knew, but I could feel the poles weakening more and more each time I threw my body into them.

"Come on you fucker!" I cursed under my breath, slamming into the railing again. I sighed, and paused, wiping the sweat from my forehead. I was surprised that they hadn't given in yet, for such an old house, it was pretty strong.

I looked over at Bella, and shook myself out of it, I didn't have time to rest, and Bella didn't have time for me to rest. I took a deep breath and flung my body towards the railing, and it finally gave out, but it sent both Bella and I crashing to the floor.

I sat up and if Bella weren't attached to me I probably would have literally jumped for fucking joy. I carefully scooped her up in my arms, and had to adjust both of our arms so that neither of us was uncomfortable.

As much as I cared for Bella, I really wasn't enjoying being handcuffed to her. I carefully walked out of the house, making sure to peer into the rooms, as far as I could without falling over on top of Bella, to make sure the coast was clear.

As I walked through the kitchen, and towards the front door, the realization hit me that I was going to get us out of here. That Bella was going to be safe. It was enough for me to cry. And Emmett Never cries. But I couldn't have felt any better as I walked us through the front door and onto the porch. I stood there for a minute, breathing in the fresh air, enjoying outside.

Suddenly, screeching tires pulled me out of my happy place, I furrowed my brow and turned to the street to see my brother's silver Volvo screeching to a halt in front of the house and he flung the door open and ran so quickly that I almost didn't see him.

"What's wrong with her? Are you guys okay? Why isn't she awake? What's going on?!" He asked frantically, sounding like Alice, as he began taking her out of my arms.

EPOV

When I turned on the street and saw Emmett walking outside of the house with Bella lying in his arms, it was so bittersweet.

They were okay, my brother was okay, and my Bella was okay. Well Bella was okay for the most part, she wasn't awake, she was covered in bruises, cuts and dried blood, she was most definitely not okay, but she was alive.

As I tried to take her limp body into my arms, Emmett pulled away from me, glaring at me.

"Emmett?" I asked, taking a step back, he had never looked at me like that before, what had James done to them?

"We need to get her to the hospital, now." he said roughly, starting to walk over to my car.

"Emmett?" I asked, keeping in pace with him.

"That motherfucker locked us together," he said angrily lifting up his arm, which was cuffed to Bella's. I frowned and helped them into the backseat, which with Bella being unconscious was not easy.

Before I could get into the car myself, a cruiser screeched around the corner on two wheels, and James flung the door open, making his way over to us. We didn't even say words as we began swinging fists at each other, I wanted him dead, and it seemed he wanted to same for me.

"You are a fucking sick, twisted psychopath." I spat, connecting my fist with his jaw, taking a step back as he swung at me, luckily missing.

"You have no idea what you've gotten yourself in the middle of Cullen." He seethed as we fell to the ground, rolling around the front yard, punching and hitting each other. We were about the same size, I had a few inches of height on him, but he definitely had more of a muscular build.

"Edward! Knock him out, we have to get Bella to the hospital!" I heard Emmett yell from somewhere behind us, I knew that if he wasn't attached to her he would have been over here joining in on this fight in a second.

Suddenly, we heard police sirens in the distance, which distracted James enough for me to knock him twice in the face, knocking him out.

"fuck." I grumbled, standing up, making my way back over to my car, helping Emmett get resituated in the back with Bella.

The police came and it was all a blur, they cuffed James quickly and put him in the back of one of the patrol cars, I quickly explained to them what he had done to Bella and Emmett, and they had a patrol car turn on its siren and lead us quickly to the hospital.

"How long has she been out?" I asked, climbing into the front seat and driving as quickly as I could towards the hospital.

"I don't know, maybe twenty five minutes now" Emmett answered, I glanced in the rearview mirror and he had worry written all over his face.

"Are you okay Emmett? Did that motherfucker do anything to you?" I asked, worried, even though Emmett was a big guy, it didn't mean he couldn't have gotten hurt.

"I just have a pretty big lump on the back of my head." he said somberly, reaching his free arm up to check it.

"How did he get you Em? You're definitely bigger than him."

He groaned loudly "I was being careless. I was just so happy that I found Bella, I didn't care about anything else, and I should have. Because he had come in the house, and I didn't hear him, and by the time Bella warned me it was too late and the motherfucker knocked me out." he huffed.

"I'm glad you're okay." I told him, running my hand through my messy hair.

"Yeah." he sighed, I could tell he still felt bad about this whole situation.

"Thank you for listening to Bella when she talked to you. And thank you for caring enough to risk your life for her, for me, I really appreciate it "I told him, sending him a grin through the mirror.

"Hey bro, we're family, I'd do it all over again." he patted me shoulder "But this is never going to happen again." he added with a scary seriousness.

"Definitely not."

We made it to the hospital in record time, and luckily they took Bella and Emmett in immediately, I made phone calls to my siblings and parents letting them know that they were safe, and where we were.


	22. Chapter 22

**A.N. ; **So, this is it, the final chapter of _Beautiful Stranger_. Thank you all for such wonderful feedback throughout the chapters of this story. Like I said before It was the first story I had ever completed on my own, many years ago. I didn't have a beta or anyone to edit it/make corrections or suggestions. So thank you for overlooking some of the things I didn't do the best with.

I have always loved writing, so the positive feedback really helps me in continuing my writing journey.

**Sdavis2k9** &amp; I have been co-writing since 2009, we had a finished story _The Friend Game_ and a story in progress _Newport Living_. We pulled them both to re-work them [they both needed a lot of work] &amp; we are also working on a new story that we are both extremely excited about. So add us on alert &amp; keep an eye out for when we post them! :)

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you all!

**Disclaimer; **Stephanie Meyer owns all things Twilight, I just play in her world, with her characters.

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\- Chapter 22 -

BPOV

I groaned, trying to roll over in my bed and suddenly stopped dead.

I was in a bed! I could move both arms freely! I wasn't locked up anymore!

My entire body was in an excruciating amount of pain, but I was safe.

I opened one eye and peered around the room, I was in a hospital room. I safely open both eyes, and sighed. I had never been happier to be in a hospital room before in my life.

I looked to the corner of the room and saw Edward slouched in the chair, against the wall, sleeping. I was so happy to see him, even if he wasn't conscious.

"Oh! Miss Masen, I'm so glad your awake, you had us worried." an unfamiliar voice said from the doorway, I turned my head to see an unfamiliar Doctor standing in front of me.

She had long dark hair, dark eyes, and russet skin, and immediately, she made me think of Jacob.

"He never leaves." she smiled, nodding her head over to Edward's sleeping form.

I couldn't help but smile at that "He's a good man, Doctor." It was hard to get the words out, my voice cracked, and my throat hurt so bad, it was like sandpaper. I winced.

"Please call me Leah, dear." she smiled as she began to look over my stats, and check my IV's and the monitors that were annoyingly beeping around me.

"How long have I been here? What's wrong with me? Is Emmett all right? What happened to James?" I asked, spilling all the questions out in one breath, trying to ignore the pain.

"Easy now, dear, don't get yourself worked up." she chuckled. I sighed, giving her a pointed look, I wanted answers. Now.

"You've been here for three days, you were extremely dehydrated, and malnourished, and you lost a lot of blood," she stated "But we've had I.v's with nutrients being pumped into you this entire time. You also have a fractured rib, a concussion, and the bone above your left eye was fractured as well, you will have scarring on your wrists, and back, you also have a lot of cuts and bruises, but those will heal in time." I nodded, waiting for her to answer the rest of my questions. "As for Emmett, he's fine, he had some minor scarring on his wrist, but not nearly as bad as yours, bruising, and a slight concussion, he and the rest of your family are eagerly waiting to see you as we speak." she smiled at me, I couldn't help but smile back, I couldn't wait to see all of them again. "As for James, he was arrested, and will be awaiting trial, not only for what he did to you, your brother, but to your mother and father as well." she smiled sadly at me.

As sad as I was about my parents, they were finally getting the justice they deserved, and James was finally getting what he deserved. It instantly felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted off of my shoulders, James was in prison, he wouldn't be able to hurt me anymore. I felt tears of relief and joy spill down my cheeks.

"I'll go get your family." she smiled at me and left the room.

Less than a minute later, the six people that I had grown to love in such a short time burst through the doorway.

"Bella!" Alice chirped, climbing next to me on the bed, throwing her tiny arms around my waste "I'm so glad you are okay, as soon as you get out I am taking you shopping!" she said excitedly.

"Ya know Alice, I swore to myself that if I got out of there alive, I would gladly go shopping with you, so it's a date." I told her smiling, the look she gave me was priceless, and it made me genuinely happy, as well as the rest of the group laugh.

"Alice, stop hogging her." Emmett demanded as he lifted Alice from the bed.

"Hey! You were attached to her for days! You're the one who's hogging!" she huffed, and reluctantly moved to the side.

"Bells, I'm so glad you're alright" he said smiling at me, I felt tears well up in my eyes, Emmett had seen what I had gone through, Emmett had gone through it himself, I would forever be bonded with him.

"No Emmett, I'm glad you're all right, I'm so sorry that James hurt you" I told him, the hot tears started again, spilling over my eyes and down my face.

"Stop it," he wiped the tears away "Your family, we protect our family." he smiled down on me. "Plus, I got to do some total destruction of your house, sorry by the way, but I've always wanted to do that!" he chuckled, kissing my forehead lightly, and stepping back.

"Bella, we were so worried when we couldn't find you." Jasper said as he stepped up, taking my hand in his.

"I'm so sorry Jasper." I said softly, he smiled down at me.

"There's no reason to be sorry, darlin' we are so glad you are okay." he smiled at me again "Now, I better see you in my office once you're healed so we can schedule a times for you and Dr. Embry, if you didn't need to talk before, you definitely need to now."

"I couldn't think of a better therapist for me Jazz." I winked at him, and he smiled, squeezing my hand lightly, and stepping back.

"Oh Bella!" Rosalie exclaimed, as she sat on the edge of my bed "Don't you ever do this again!" she demanded fiercely, causing everyone to chuckle.

"Trust me Rose, you guys are stuck with me now." I smiled at her, and she smiled back, she was absolutely beautiful when she smiled, I'd have to remind her to do it more often.

"Good." she smiled again and got off the bed into Emmett's arms.

"Bella, I'm so glad you are alright." Carlisle said, as he and Esme approached me.

"I'm so sorry that this is only the second time we've met and it's like this." I said sadly, offering them a small smile.

"Nonsense dear," Esme scolded, winking at me "we're just glad you are okay."

"Yes, we are, you're part of this family now, without you, the seven of us are just not whole, and unable to function clearly." Carlisle said, chuckling slightly.

"I'm so sorry for risking any of their lives, I am so sorry." I apologized again. They both shook their heads at me.

"Stop that, dear," Esme said, "We don't want to hear any of that anymore."

I nodded, smiling up at my family, when another voice from the other side of me sounded.

"Bella." I had never been so happy to hear my name. I snapped my head to the side and looked at Edward, who was awake now, and kneeling at the empty side of my bed.

I couldn't help the huge smile that spread across my face. "Edward." I whispered.

I took a minute to study his face in detail, he was even more beautiful since the last time I had seen him. Although this time, he had worry lines across his forehead, and even darker circles around his eyes than the first night I had met him. He pressed his forehead against mine, and I smiled wider, I had missed him, missed this.

"Alright, we'll be out in the hall." Carlisle said

My face reddened, I had completely forgotten about everyone else in the room.

"Let's give them some privacy guys, come on!" Emmett boomed as they shuffled out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

"I'm so glad you are okay Bella, I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to save you from that, to stop him." he said never turning his head away from me. His green eyes, I had forgotten how intense they were.

"Edward it's not your fault" I whispered, kissing him, I never wanted to stop kissing him.

"Bella." he breathed, breaking the kiss. "I love you." I never thought I would feel the intensity of those words, but as he spoke them, my entire body warmed up, and my heart exploded with love, and happiness.

I couldn't help but smile at him "Edward, I love you too. I think I've loved you from the start." I smiled, kissing him again.

Even though I was in the hospital. I had never felt better in my entire life.

I had a family. That loved me. That risked their lives for me.

I had a man who I loved, who loved me back.

I was the happiest girl in the world.

**5 Years Later** –

I took one last glance in the mirror and smiled at my reflection. The white veil fell around my face perfectly, and the small diamond tiara sat perfectly atop of my head. The white dress that Alice and Rosalie had designed for me fit me exactly right, accentuating all of my curves, and setting against my skin just right. I looked like a princess, and I absolutely loved it.

The past five years had been the five most amazing years of my life.

Once everything with James was settled, once the trials were over, and I knew that he had been put in jail for good, I was able to put everything behind me, all the bad, all the nightmares, everything from my past. I was able to go to my house, and clean it, and get my things, and sell it, and give it what it deserved, of course, Edward and the rest of the family stood by my side and helped me through it the entire time. I was also able to reconnect with some of my old friends, Jacob Black, who was my best friend growing up, and I had gotten very close again, he would come visit every other weekend with his girlfriend, Nessie, and they fit right in with the Cullens, it was a great feeling. I had also gotten in touch with Angela Webber, who was one of my few close friends in high school, she had also fit in with the Cullens very well, we had girls night with Rosalie and Alice once a week.

I had kept my promise to Jasper and Rosalie, and made an appointment with Dr. Embry every week, still to this day, we talk about everything, the past, and the present, what I hope for the future, the good, and the bad. He has helped me accept the past, and the troubles that I have gone through. I am 100% convinced that I wouldn't have been able to recover without our weekly sessions. They weren't always easy, sometimes I fought him tooth and nail, not wanting to relive some of the things we discussed, there were times I cried my eyes out, feeling as if I was taking ten steps back. But he knew what he was doing, and despite all of those difficult sessions, he helped build me up to be stronger than I ever remembered being.

Edward and my relationship continued to grow. I was so in love with him, we just got each other, without each other we were not whole, when he proposed to me, yes was the only answer I would have ever given him. I love Edward Cullen, with all of my heart, and I knew that I would forever love him, for every single day of forever. There were times when it wasn't always easy, times when I would be withdrawn and upset about my past, times when he was busy with work, but we both gave each other the space we needed, and we were able to work through every argument without me ever feeling unsafe.

I looked over my jewelry, and paused at my wrists, and traced the scars that were left from that horrible weekend. They were constant reminders of what I had gone through, but at the same time, they were reminders of my strength, and how strong I was to be able to survive something like that.

Emmett had a similar scar on his left wrist, we always say that it bonds us for life, and I truly believed that. Since our experience together, he and I had become so much closer, there were times where only he would understand why I was feeling certain ways, even though I felt awful he had to experience some of my past, I was grateful to have someone who did understand. He had come to a few therapy sessions with me, to help explain to Dr. Embry exactly what we had gone through, he also agreed that he could feel the bond between us.

"Bells, you ready?" Carlisle's voice said as he appeared in the mirror, breaking me away from my thoughts. I smiled at him through the mirror, and turned to face him.

"I've never been more ready in my entire life." I smiled again and crossed the room towards him, slowly so not to trip.

He held his arm out and I looped mine through as we exited the room.

"You look breathtaking, dear." he said kissing my forehead. "It's an honor to be able to walk you down the aisle."

I smiled up at him, with tears in my eyes "Thank you, Carlisle, since my father isn't here to do it, I couldn't think of anyone better." And I meant it, I was lucky enough to have someone as wonderful as Carlisle to step in and share this special moment with me.

He smiled back, and as the music played, we began walking down the aisle towards my Edward. My soon to be husband. I couldn't have been happier.

Every now and then, Fairy tales do come true.

*** THE END ***


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